Maputo — The Toronto based mining company Brigadier Gold on Tuesday announced that it has received the results of samples taken from its mining concession at Tsiquire in the district of Gorongosa, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala.

Forty one samples were collected in October, which were tested along with samples taken in June. They cover a total area of 1.2 square kilometres.

The samples showed a huge variation in gold, with the highest concentration being 170.8 grammes per tonne of rock. Silver was also found in the samples.

According to Brigadier Gold, it “believes that these extremely strong sample results combined with the apparent surface expression of the mineralization make a compelling case for further exploration”.

The Tsiquire gold project covers 2,560 hectares near the town of Gorongosa.

There are already six pits mined by artisanal miners and preliminary tests have indicated that gold is available at an average of 1 to 2 grams per tonne of rock.

In October Brigadier Gold announced that its target is to develop a “multi-million ounce, open-pittable, high tonnage gold deposit with bonanza-grade mineralization”.

The Chinese company Sogecoa, a subsidiary of the Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group, is prospecting for gold elsewhere in Gorongosa district.