African Gold Group drills Mali high-grade gold
African Gold Group Inc. [AGG-TSXV; AGGFF-OTC] has reported new drill results from the company’s Kobada gold project, located in southern Mali, West Africa including additional high-grade intersections in the northern extension of the main shear zone.
The Kobada Project is an advanced gold project located approximately 125 km southwest of Bamako, the capital city of Mali, is fully licensed and is progressing toward completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study in second quarter 2020 (the DFS).
Highlights include:
• Drilling results returned intersections of broad and continuous mineralization, progressing to new depths within a largely untested area of the Kobada concession.
• The company expects to release an updated mineral resource statement in the coming weeks.
• Drill hole KB19-P2-33 returned 2.14 g/t gold over 16.0 metres, including 30.80 g/t over 1.0 metre.
• Drill hole KB19-P2-34 returned 2.12 g/t Au over 3.0 m and 1.88 g/t Au over 1.0 m.
• Drill hole KB19-P2-35 returned 2.0 g/t Au over 2.30 m and 3.79 g/t Au over 1.1 m.
• Drill hole KB19-P2-36 returned 2.49 g/t Au over 4.03 m, including 2.89 g/t over 3.39 m.
• Drill hole KB19-P2-38 returned 3.26 g/t Au over 2.20 m.
“We still encounter high-grade mineralization moving northwards beyond the planned open pit along strike and downdip, proving the yet open-ended extension northwards and along dip beyond the saprolite zone,” said Dr. Andreas Rompel, vice-president, exploration, of the company. “Furthermore, we are testing the width of the Kobada shear and are happy to see that it extends further westwards than anticipated in parts.”
The Kobada gold project is a fully licensed and permitted advanced development project located in the prolific Birimian greenstone belt in southern Mali. The company is working toward delivering the Definitive Feasibility Study in second quarter 2020 as part of the final process before commencement of construction. Since 2019, the company has completed a drilling campaign totaling 11,428 metres within the Kobada gold project concession area.
To date, the company has not discovered the northern, or the southern, end of mineralization along the Kobada shear zone. Furthermore, African Gold intends to step away from the Kobada shear to test the neighbouring and parallel-striking Gosso shear, which has been exposed by shallow artisanal mining:
• The high-grade intersects reported in this press release are part of the section lines 14 and 15.
• The company is targeting only oxides that extend to an average depth of 150 m but is testing the lower limit of the saprolite for pit-planning purposes.
Following on from the previously reported drill holes of the Phase 2 drilling program, the current batch of assay results received from the SGS laboratory in Bamako continues to demonstrate the large extent of the mineralization along strike and downdip along the highly prolific and auriferous Kobada shear zone. Results from the Phase 2 drilling program will be incorporated into an updated mineral resource statement targeted to be released within the next few weeks.
Kobada is near-surface gold project that has a global resource base of over 2.2 million ounces of gold in all categories. The project has strong economic potential as demonstrated in a 2016 feasibility study:
• ALL-in LOM sustaining cash operating costs of US$788/oz gold
• Initial capex of US$45.4 million
• Post-tax NPV5% of US$126 million and IRR of 55%