Kodal Minerals, the mineral exploration and development company focused on the Bougouni Lithium Project and its gold assets in West Africa is pleased to announce the receipt of all assay results for the recently completed reverse circulation (‘RC’) drilling at the Nielle Concession (‘Nielle’) located in northern Côte d’Ivoire.
Highlights
· RC drilling returned wide intersections of gold mineralisation and includes zones of high-grade gold mineralisation including:
o 33m at 2.33g/t gold from 3m in drill hole NLRC035, including 6m at 7.99g/t gold from 6m
o 12m at 5.96g/t gold from 6m in drill hole NLRC032, including 6m at 11.45g/t gold from 6m
o 6m at 6.51g/t gold from 87m in drill hole NLRC029, including 9m at 3.02g/t gold from 24m; and
o 9m at 3.76g/t gold from 99m in drill hole NLRC038.
· RC drilling has confirmed drill intersections extending to the north and south along strike of the previously defined gold mineralised zone.
· A new western zone has been intersected by these new drill holes and remains open along strike.
· Geological logging of the drill holes has identified a wide hydrothermal alteration zone consisting of quartz-carbonate veining, sulphide mineralisation, iron-oxide staining and chlorite minerals.
· Final results for the completed aircore drilling are pending and when received will be interpreted in conjunction with these RC drill results to plan follow-up and extension drilling.
Bernard Aylward, CEO of Kodal Minerals, commented: “These wide, high-grade drill results from our first drilling campaign at Nielle are very encouraging. We have been able to confirm and extend the zone of gold mineralisation discovered by our former joint venture partner, and in addition we have been able to identify new zones of gold mineralisation that highlight the prospectivity of this new region. The Nielle Concession was completely unexplored prior to the exploration completed by Kodal and our former partners, and this new discovery is a result of good exploration work. We are awaiting final results from the reconnaissance aircore drilling and will undertake a detailed review of all drilling to plan the next phase of reverse circulation drilling that we would like to undertake as soon as access and rig availability allows.
“Although the receipt of these assay results was longer than anticipated, they reflect the intensive exploration activity that is currently underway in West Africa. Multiple exploration companies are undertaking surface geochemical sampling, drilling programmes and sample analysis leading to high demand of drilling services and extended laboratory turnaround time. I look forward to providing further updates in due course.”
FURTHER INFORMATION
Nielle Concession
Kodal has completed the initial RC drilling programme at the Nielle concession consisting of a total of 12 drill holes for 1,285m. The drilling programme was designed to confirm the previous gold mineralised zones defined by Resolute Mining Limited (‘Resolute’), the former joint venture partner, and targeted strike extensions and a first test of a western zone of surface geochemical anomalism.
Gold mineralised intersections are associated with strong alteration, sulphide mineralisation and quartz-carbonate veining. The drill hole results confirm a gold mineralised system that remains open along strike and at depth. The presence of shallow gold mineralisation is reflected in the surface geochemical anomaly, and a review of the surface geochemical anomaly indicates that the full anomaly has not yet been tested. Follow-up and extension drilling is planned to continue to test the defined gold mineralised zone as well as continue to fully evaluate the geochemical anomaly.
This initial drilling campaign has tested a strike length exceeding 1,000m, however drilling remains on a wide spacing, with sections up to 100m apart and drill collars up to 50m apart along sections. This will require infill to allow confidence in geological interpretation prior to advanced minerals resource estimation.
The gold mineralisation intersected in this drilling campaign contains zones of high-grade mineralisation that will require interpretation to attempt to define potential high-grade gold mineralised shoots that may be important in future economic assessment. The drilling has returned wide and shallow mineralised zones and significant results are tabled below:
Significant intersections for the RC drill holes calculated using a 0.5g/t gold lower cut-off, maximum 3m internal dilution are tabled below:
Notes: Drill holes are RC drill holes. Drill holes have been sampled on a 1m basis with samples collected via a riffle split system. Initial samples reported here are 3m composite samples and further sub-sampling will be completed. Drill hole collars are surveyed using a differential GPS with sub 1-metre accuracy, coordinate system WGS84 – Zone 30N, and all holes are survey down-hole for dip and azimuth on approximately 30m intervals. All drill holes are geologically logged, and sampling for analysis is based on geological boundaries. Samples analysed by SGS Laboratories with preparation in Cote d’Ivoire and final analysis in Burkina Faso. Assay results are reported as g/t gold (ppm). Intersections are reported using a 0.5g/t gold lower-cut-off, and allowing for a maximum of 3m internal dilution
The next phase of exploration at Nielle will consist of additional RC drill testing targeting the defined gold mineralised zone and further aircore drilling targeting the surface geochemical anomaly and geological targets. Drilling is anticipated to commence in September when a drill rig becomes available.
Kodal Minerals plc
Bernard Aylward, CEO
Tel: +61 418 943 345
