Kentor Gold’s subsidiary CJSC Kentor has been granted a prospecting licence for lead, zinc and other minerals in an area of the central Naryn Oblast, Kyrgyz Republic.

The primary exploration targets within the 149sqkm licence area are carbonate-hosted base metal deposits indicated by a series of high grade lead occurrences with accompanying zinc, copper and silver.

The best known of the occurrences is at Chunkei, consisting of 5 vein-like galena-barite bodies in Palaeogene conglomerate adjacent to a contact with Palaeozoic sediments. The bodies at this occurrence are confined within a zone 100m long and 15m wide.

A second high grade lead occurrence, Berkut-Ya, was mapped by Soviet geologists 1km to the south-west of Chunkei in a similar geological setting along a structure that appears to include the old Kulja-Bashat mine a further 6km to the south-west and not in Kentor’s licence area. This is recorded as having produced 32,000 tonnes of lead in the years up to 1930 from high grade ore.

Two further occurrences are recorded within Kentor’s licence area, 10km to the north-east of Chunkei along the same geological trend on the northern bank of the Naryn River.

There is a hot spring on the south bank of the Naryn River near the Chunkei occurrence indicating an active hydrothermal environment. The exploration model suggests that the surface occurrences in Palaeogene and Neogene sediments are recent re-mobilizations of sulphides from a deeper carbonate-hosted base metal deposit.

Kentor plans to test this concept by using geophysics along the geological trend to explore for additional sulphide targets which will then be tested by drilling later this year.

The area is of moderate relief at an altitude of 2200m which will allow for an extended field season.