VANGOLD REPORTS ON OIL AND GAS INTERESTS IN KENYA, RWANDA AND ARMENIA
StreetInsider.com , MI
Feb 28 2008
VANCOUVER, BC — (MARKET WIRE) — 02/28/08 — Vangold Resources
Ltd. (TSX-V: VAN) ("Vangold") has been actively working in Kenya,
Rwanda and Armenia over the last 18 to 24 months. President and CEO,
Dal Brynelsen, comments: "We have successfully opened offices in
Yerevan and Nairobi to support our properties in Armenia, Kenya
and Rwanda.
We have staffed these offices with excellent technical people who have
achieved an exceptional amount of information gathering and compilation
with the help of consultants in the UK and Canada. All of the three
properties which cover in total 43,000 sq kms have exhibited excellent
potential for hydrocarbons. We are very encouraged and look forward
with great excitement to the next several years for which we owe
special thanks to our technical staff. At my request they have prepared
the following report on our current operations and future plans."
Kenya
Mr. Francis M. Karanja, the lead exploration geologist, reports:
Vangold Resources Kenya, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vangold,
has acquired an office in the Nairobi industrial area to provide
technical support for operations in Kenya and Rwanda. Vangold Kenya has
retained the services of a technical team comprising three geoscientist
consultants and one administration officer. The three geoscientists
include an exploration geologist, exploration geophysicist and a
senior geologist. The experienced technical team has developed a
clear operational plan and budget. The team has also acquired the SMT
Kingdom software to undertake in-house interpretation and handling
of the geophysical and geological data.
In Kenya, Vangold has acquired a large [12,270 km2] land package
[Block 3A] which partly lies along the proven hydrocarbons fairway
of Central Africa Rift system [CARS]. The Block 3A acreage occupies
a convergence area of three sedimentary basins of Anza, Mochesa and
Lamu Embayment. The Anza basin [Graben] in Kenya is the termination
rift of the Central African Rift System in northeast Kenya. The basin
forms the southeastern extension of the prolific Melut and Muglad rift
basins in southern Sudan where working petroleum systems have been
proved and oil discovered. Potential source rocks for hydrocarbon
generation and evidences of a Cretaceous working [oil generation]
petroleum system exist in Anza Graben in Chalbi sub-basin to the
north-east of Block 3A. Past petroleum exploration in Block 3A
include geological, geophysical and geochemical studies resulting
in establishment of the geological setting and prospectivity of the
block. The prospects associated with Anza Graben in Block 3A acreage
are the most promising and will be given the first priority by Vangold
management. Two exploratory wells have been drilled in Block 3A.
Vangold has already acquired the previous data on petroleum operations
in Block 3A from the National Oil Corporation of Kenya and is now
in the process of re-processing the data followed by interpretation,
basin modeling, data integration and establishment of leads/prospects
in Blocks 3A & 3B. Before the end of the Initial Exploration Period
of three [3] contract years, Vangold will acquire more 2D/3D seismic
data and drill one exploratory well.
In addition to Block 3A, Vangold has a one-year study option for
Block 3B [12,270 km2] which lies in Lamu Embayment basin south of
Block 3A. The block has adequate magnetic and gravity data with
sparse seismic coverage. Two exploratory wells have been drilled
in the block. Vangold will re-process the relevant geophysical data
and undertake interpretation and integration of the data including
basin modeling for possible existing of active Tertiary, Cretaceous
or Jurassic age petroleum systems. The hydrocarbons prospectivity of
Block 3B based on the existing data will be established and a lead
map for the block generated. Vangold has the option to acquire the
block under the Production Sharing Contract [PSC] or drop the acreage
after one year of study.
The leadership in Kenya, both the government and opposition, are
actively engaged in mediation talks that have resulted in reduced
incidences of violence in the western region of the country. The
eastern part of the country where Block 3 falls has remained unaffected
and oil exploration activities of Lion petroleum [block 1], CNOOC
[block 9] and Lundin [block 10a] continue unabated. Recent intervention
by the US State Department, European Union, African Union and the
rest of the world augurs well for the outcome of the talks.
Rwanda
On March 1, 2007 Vangold reported that it was granted the exclusive
rights to commence negotiations for a production sharing license
for oil and gas in the northwestern part of Rwanda. The concession,
a 2,708 sq kms area, represented 11% of the landmass of Rwanda.
Vangold’s technical team had previously undertaken a technical review
of all information available and negotiations commenced.
Subsequently, in October 2007 Vangold successfully negotiated and
signed a Technical Evaluation Agreement for the East Kivu Graben Basin
area located in the Kivu Graben. A one-year technical study narrowed
the area to 1,631 sq kms.
The main achievement Vangold envisages in Rwanda Kivu Graben is the
establishment of the existence of potential sedimentary basin where
hydrocarbons may have accumulated. The task to achieve the objective
will involve undertaking a defined and specified airborne geophysical
survey [gravity & Magnetic] programme in the entire Vangold’s Kivu
Graben block that includes the Rwanda portion of the Lake Kivu
waters. The acquired data will be subjected to interpretation using
state-of-art technology. Vangold has evidence of a possible working
petroleum system in Kivu Graben with the existence of high carbon
chain hydrocarbons in the deep waters of Lake Kivu. Such hydrocarbons
originate from a source rock adequately matured and deeply [< 2,000m]
embedded in the possible Tertiary lake sediments sequences in Kivu
Graben. Lake sediments of Tertiary age outcrop at Gisakura area in
southwest Rwanda.
The Kivu Graben is the southern extension of the Albertine Graben
in Uganda and DRC where a Tertiary age working petroleum system has
been proved and oil discovered by Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil. We
believe a similar [Tertiary age] working petroleum system exists in
Kivu Graben with a possibility of oil generation and accumulation in
Kivu Graben. Therefore, Vangold has further commissioned ASAR imagery
study of lake Kivu waters as a similar study in Lake Tanganyika to
the south has revealed 10 oil seeps
Armenia
Mr. Gerry Sheehan, Managing Director of Blackstairs Energy plc,
reports as follows on Vangold’s operations in Armenia:
An Exploration and Production Sharing Contract was signed with the
Government of Armenia on April 27th, 2007. The contract covers the
areas designated "Blocks 4, 5 and 6" and extends to c. 13,775 sq. km
(c. 3.4 Million acres) in central and southern Armenia. The contract
will be operated by Blackstairs Energy plc (50%) in partnership with
Vangold Resources (50%). The associated "Exploration Licence Permit"
and the "Licence Agreement" permits were also approved by the Armenian
authorities in May 2007 and December 2007 respectively.
These permits allow unrestricted access to the Licence Area and the
commencement of various technical operations in the blocks.
The term of the contract is for 5 years with two additional extensions
each of 2 years negotiable with the authorities. The work programme
over the initial 5 years comprises Geological Studies, Gravity and
Geochemical studies, Remote Sensing (Satellite Imagery) and 170 km
of 2D seismic. The financial commitment is 2.4 Million $US over the
initial 5 year term.
The commercial terms of the Exploration and Production Sharing
Contract are attractive and serve to ensure that even quite small
accumulations of either oil or gas will be viable for commercial
development. Armenia currently imports all of its hydrocarbons and
there is a ready open market for any indigenous hydrocarbons.
Geological Summary and Prospectivity
The sedimentary basins of Armenia are relatively under-explored. The
geological history is complex due to the major Caucasus
mountain-building structural events. Two main sedimentary basins are
recognized — the "South-Western Basins" extending west to Armenia’s
border with Turkey and the "Central Depression" covering the central
part of the country extend east to the border with oil-rich Azerbaijan
and south towards the border with Iran. Within these basins lie a
series of smaller complex sub-basins. The structural style identified
within these basins displays good potential for the development
of multiple hydrocarbons traps with widespread evidence of folding,
faulting and complex fault thrusts. The Central Depression covers most
of the joint venture’s Licence Area and contains a broad age range of
sediments from the oldest Devonian era sequences right up to thick
recent sediments. This broad sequence offers the potential for the
development of various reservoir, source and seal combinations. In
the extreme south in Block 6, adjacent to the Iranian border, a
Jurassic-Cretaceous sub-basin is virtually unexplored and may offer
significant hydrocarbon potential.
Previous hydrocarbon exploration has been patchy and unsystematic and
undertaken using fairly basic geological and geophysical techniques.
>>From 1947 up to 1990 the former Soviet authorities undertook
fairly sporadic programmes of seismic and drilling, often lacking in
geological and adequate seismic control. Two key well results emerged
from this phase of exploration. The Shorakhpur-1P well east of the
capital Yerevan encountered minor oil. Further west at Armvir the
Oktemberyan-13E well flowed gas at low rates for 6 months. Numerous
other boreholes encountered indications of both oil and gas and several
oil and seeps are also well documented; these are scattered widely
throughout the Licence Area. This phase was followed in the 1990s
by a seismic and drilling campaign by AAEC. Their well — Azat-1 —
drilled to 3524 metres and again encountered minor oil shows before
being terminated for operational reasons. In 2007 Transeuro Energy
Corp. drilled the Kamir-1 exploration well and reported an extensive
reservoir interval with well logs indicating a thick zone of low
gas saturations. Transeuro also reports that this well has now been
suspended with a view to additional logging and testing programmes
later in 2008.
The exploration programmes to date offer sufficient encouragement to
infer the development of a working petroleum system. However, a more
systematic geological and geophysical evaluation programme is required
to advance our understanding of the hydrocarbon prospectivity. The
Blackstairs-Vangold joint venture is now well advanced in developing
a new geological model for the area. A team of local and western
professionals has been assembled and a technical work progamme
is underway. The historical data is being carefully analysed and
incorporated to a modern GIS database. These data are already yielding
valuable geological information and greatly assisting in the evolution
of a new geological model for the area. In order to understand the
major controls on structure formation and sedimentation a Remote
Sensing study (high-resolution Satellite Imagery) was completed
in 2007. This is being followed up with more focused evaluation of
certain areas highlighted from the initial phase and field validation
of newly identified geological trends is ongoing.
A major gravity survey (5000 stations) over Block 4 and 5 also started
in 2007 and will resume in early summer 2008 — this will serve to
elucidate the subsurface structural trends and will be integrated
with the Satellite Imagery and field structural and geological
mapping. The ultimate objective of these studies is to highlight
areas for a focused programme of 2D seismic acquisition targeted at
significant structural trends in promising fairways for reservoir,
seal, source rock and migration route development.
Ultimately the joint venture aims to assemble a good quality prospect
portfolio and rank these individually for a future drilling campaign.
In summary, the geological and geophysical data from the historic
exploration programmes indicate extensive basinal areas with
encouraging evidence that a viable petroleum system may be developed.
The nature and complexity of the structural trends would indicate that
a broad range of trap size is possible. The extensive stratigraphic
sequences should offer multiple reservoir possibilities. The
modern systematic exploration programmes being undertaken by the
Blackstairs-Vangold joint venture should considerably add to our
understanding of this petroleum system.
Blocks 4, 5 and 6 cover a very large area of virtually unexplored
terrain. There are numerous and widespread indications of hydrocarbons,
and the Licence Area represents a good quality acreage portfolio in
a strategic region.
Management of Technical Activities & Licence Administration
Immediately on signing the Petroleum Contract, the Blackstairs
Energy-Vangold Resources joint venture began putting a technical and
office infrastructure in place in Yerevan. An experienced expatriate
General Manager was appointed, local technical (geological and
geophysical) financial and administrative staff recruited, and
an office building with excellent communications and exploration
technical software was configured. These activities are supervised
and supported by the Blackstairs technical team in Dublin, Ireland.
Considerable advances have already been made in the technical
evaluation the Licence Area.
To find out more about Vangold Resources Ltd. please visit our
website at or contact Dal Brynelsen at 604-684-1974
or by email brynelsen@vangold.ca.
On Behalf of the Board of
VANGOLD RESOURCES LTD.
"Dal Brynelsen" Dal Brynelsen, President and CEO
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news
release. The statements made in this News Release may contain certain
forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ from
the Company’s expectations. Certain risk factors may also affect the
actual results achieved by the Company.
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Vangold Resources Ltd.
P.O. Box 11622 1730 – 650 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada,
V6B 4N9 Phone: 604-684-1974 Fax: 604-685-5970
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