Modi Taung-Nankwe Exploration History

Currently, the area defined as the slate belt (Figure 6.2) was considered by Indian geologists to have low economic value through geological surveys before 1942. It was not taken seriously during the Japanese occupation. During World War II, It also attracted little attention during and after World War II. No doubt due to the dense forest cover and steep geographical landscape, geological mapping did not begin until 1970. A joint exploration project with the United Nations funded the mineral exploration of Block 10, during which placer gold in the Paunglaung Valley was discovered and traced to the drainage basin east of the slate belt.

Figure 6.2 Simplified geological map of central Myanmar and adjacent areas: indicating the main geological units and structural zones

(According to AHG Mitchell, et al., 2004)

In 1996, an exploration license for 1,400km2 was obtained in Block 10. The initial exploration results were the discovery of Lebyin silicified stibnite and gold-bearing mineralization in the eastern part of the slate belt. The Lebyin exploration project also includes regional water system sediment measurements, heavy sand measurements, etc. Within the slate, eight major gold anomalies were circled, as well as some artificial gold panning spots. A 4km long soil gold anomaly was found in the Shweminbon scarp east of Lebyin. From the end of 1997 to the beginning of 1999, the exploration mainly focused on the Lebyin stibnite-gold mineralization area, and a gold vein turnstone with a grade of up to 1600×10-6Au was newly discovered in Shwemin. By the beginning of 2000, the follow-up exploration work was carried out in the northwest belt More than 100 mineralized outcrops have been delineated within the channel with vein and silicified gold mineralization. Geological mapping and trench sampling results show that the veins are mesothermal hydrothermal low-sulfide type and occur in phyllite mudstone.

From the end of 1999 to the beginning of 2000, seasonal field work was mainly concentrated in the Modi Taung area. Various tracking and exploration work were carried out simultaneously, and an 8m wide, 13×10-6 gold mineral quartz vein was discovered, thus accelerating the rainy season. Grooving sampling work. During the rainy season, landslides left more than 3,000 people homeless but uncovered a vein of high-grade gold. A shallow adit subsequently revealed a vein several meters wide with a gold grade exceeding 100×10-6. In early 2001, a larger-scale adit exploration project began, and in early 2002, a road was built, ending the history of using humans and elephants to transport supplies.

In the Modi Taung area, the high terrain is conducive to adit exploration. The steeply inclined veins at an altitude of 1,400m have a consistent northwest trend with the terrain. Therefore, the adit is constructed on the footwall of the steeply dipping vein to continuously obtain greater exploration depth, which is beneficial to accessing the primary mineral zone under the oxidation zone. In this way, more than 5km of exploration tunnels and 5000m of diamond drilling core were completed together with surface exploration. The vein system is located between Modi Taung and North Nankwe.