Compass Gold drills 3.30 g/t gold over 13 metres at Sikasso, Mali
Compass Gold Corp. [CVB-TSXV] provided an update on the recently completed deep reverse circulation drilling at the Tarabala prospect, located on the company’s Sikasso property in southern Mali, West Africa.
Drilling at the Tarabala prospect to test 450 metres of a 1,000-metre zone intercepted higher-grade mineralized areas within wide zones of low-grade mineralization. Best interval was 13 metres at 3.30 g/t gold (from 84 m), including 8 metres at 4.95 g/t gold (from 84 m). Highest-grade interval was one metres at 18.90 metres (from 86 m). Widest interval of low-grade mineralization was 19 metres at 0.84 g/t gold (from 170 m). Mineralization remains open at depth.
Larry Phillips, CEO, said: “These are very positive results for Compass. Our objective has always been to identify an open-pit gold deposit along the extensive regional trends that run through our properties. Whereas an open-pit mine in Mali can be economic at 0.7 g/t, we have discovered grades in this 450-metre section of the Tarabala zone far exceeding that level. And even more exciting is that our drilling intercepted significant down-dip widths of gold mineralization at depths of just 125 metres from surface. This includes some of the highest-grade intercepts we have seen in this area, including 13 metres at 3.30 g/t, which bodes well for follow-up drilling.
“Meanwhile, we are awaiting the results of the metallic screen fire assaying to determine if coarse-grained, nuggety gold is present in the samples. If it is, then it is likely that previously reported grades from drilling along the 14-km Tarabala trend were underreported, which would indicate a huge potential for future resource estimations along several zones of that trend.”
Dr. Sandy Archibald, PGeo, technical director, added: “I am pleased with the promising results of our recent bedrock drilling at Tarabala, and eagerly await the metallic screen fire assay results to assess the presence of nuggety gold and the potential impact on reported grades.
“Also, during my recent site visit, I was impressed to find that the number of artisanal workings at Tarabala has increased sharply since we last drilled there in August, 2021. Field mapping now shows that artisanal workings have extended 1,000 metres sporadically along the Tarabala fault, and they have been excavated to depths up to 15 metres. Similar increases in artisanal activity have also been observed within our Moribala permit area. There, these artisanal miners are typically extracting significant amounts of coarse-grained gold. As a result, we are assessing the potential for higher-grade mineralization being present near surface along these trends and the economics of accessing that gold.”
Based on the recent drilling, the company now believes gold mineralization is open at depth and continues to the south of the main workings. Additional drilling is required along the full 800-metre length of the target zone structure to enable the company to perform an initial resource estimation.
The company will also develop deep trenching and pitting plan at Tarabala to determine the quantities of near-surface gold mineralization that can be recovered from the laterite.
Six RC drill holes (1,036 m) were drilled in early March at the Tarabala prospect to test the down-dip extension of mineralization previously identified by near-surface drilling.
The holes were completed over the 450-metre strike length of previously drill-tested shallow mineralization to test the grade and continuity at a depth of a 1,000-m panel of the best gold mineralization. Wide zones of mineralization greater than 10 metres were recorded in five holes: 19 metres of 0.84 g/t gold (from 170 m, SARC022), 13 metres of 3.30 g/t gold (from 84 m, SARC019), 11 metres of 0.46 g/t gold (from 125 m, SARC020), 10 metres of 0.49 g/t gold (from 140 m, SARC017), and 10 metres of 0.42 g/t gold (from 101 m, SARC018).
SARC022 was the most southerly hole drilled and contained the widest mineralized zone, 19 metres of 0.84 g/t gold (from 170 m). This zone correlated well with previous shallower mineralization, i.e., SAAC080 (7 m @ 0.43 g/t Au, from 37 m; 3 m @ 5.13 g/t Au, from 47 m), SARC005 (13 m @ 0.79 g/t Au, from 84 m), and SADD004 (17 m @ 0.96 g/t Au, from 101 m), and clearly showed that the structure remains open at depth.
The Compass field team has been mapping the abundance of artisanal workings on the ground and using drone technology on the Sankarani and Moribala permits.
A site visit was also conducted to a nearby 200-tonne-per-day gold process plant 1 km northwest of the main area of artisanal gold working at Tarabala. This visit was to assess whether Compass could use similar equipment to process a bulk sample from Tarabala and Massala West to determine the gold recovery.
Compass holds gold exploration permits that comprise the Sikasso property. The exploration permits are located in three sites in southern Mali with a combined land holding of 867 km2.