Cora Gold Limited, the West African focused gold company, is pleased to announce that it is due to commence a new 2022 drill programme at its flagship Sanankoro Gold Project (‘Sanankoro’ or the ‘Project’) in Southern Mali.
HIGHLIGHTS
● Capital Drilling Mali SARL (‘Capital’), a subsidiary of Capital Limited (LSE: CAPD), appointed as drill contractor and mobilising to site to undertake circa 7,500m of reverse circulation (‘RC’) drilling
● Drill rig mobilisation has started, with drilling due to commence in March
● Programme dual focussed on converting existing resources from Inferred to Indicated category as well as targeting the discovery of new Inferred resources
● Follows success of 2021 drill programme, which delivered a 200% increase of the pit constrained Mineral Resource Estimate (‘MRE’) to 21.9 million tonnes (‘Mt’) at 1.15g/t Au for a total of 809.3 koz Au, including
o 540.6 koz @ 1.33 g/t Au in the Indicated category
o 268.7 koz @ 0.90 g/t Au in the Inferred category
● Significant further expansion potential identified
o All deposits remain open at depth and along strike
o MRE based on around 7.5km surface expression of the total 33 linear km strike length of the potential mineralised zones identified in the 2018 Exploration Target of up to 2Moz within 100m of surface
● Drilling expected to be completed in Q2 2022 with drill results to be released during the programme as results are received
Bert Monro, CEO of Cora, commented, “Following the success of our 2021 drill programme, delivering a +200% MRE increase, we are delighted to be recommencing resource drilling at Sanankoro. The Project’s potential as an open-pittable, free-digging oxide mine has been established and through this drill programme and the Definitive Feasibility Study, which remains on track to be delivered in H1 2022, we are committed to building on existing resources and creating additional value for the Company.”
FURTHER DETAILS
A 2022 drill programme is due to commence in March 2022 at Cora’s flagship Sanankoro Gold Project in southern Mali, which is made up of five contiguous permits encompassing c.439 sq. km. An initial programme of c.7,500m of RC drilling has been planned and Capital has been appointed as drill contractor to complete the work.
The objective of the drilling campaign is to increase resource confidence by converting existing Inferred resources to the Indicated category and discovering new Inferred resources. This will build on the pit constrained MRE reported by CSA Global (UK) Ltd in November 2021, which identified a resource of 21.9Mt at 1.15 g/t Au for a total of 809.3 koz of Au, including 540.6 koz @ 1.33 g/t Au in the Indicated category, and 268.7 koz @ 0.90 g/t Au in the Inferred category. This represented a +200% increase in total ounces from the maiden MRE in December 2019. 67% of the MRE ounces are in the Indicated category and 77% of gold is in the oxide zone, with a further 22% in the transitional zone giving the Company further confidence in its ability to deliver an open pit, free digging, oxide operation. Previous metallurgical testwork shows +94% recoveries (RNS dated 24 September 2020) whilst the base of oxidation ranges from 60 to 207m deep. Work on the DFS is gaining momentum following completion of all DFS field work in January 2022 and the study is expected to be released in H1 2022.
Significant further expansion potential remains as all deposits remain open at depth and along strike. The MRE is based on around 7.5km surface expression of the total 33 linear km strike length of the potential mineralised zones identified in the 2018 Exploration Target of up to 2Moz within 100m of surface at Sanankoro (SRK, 2018). There are multiple higher grade ore shoots within the deposits, which offer the potential for higher grade production in early years of mining.
Market Abuse Regulation (‘MAR’) Disclosure
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“MAR”), and is disclosed in accordance with the company’s obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit http://www.coragold.com or contact:
Bert Monro
Craig Banfield
Cora Gold Limited
