Aurum Resources has taken a major step towards development at its flagship Boundiali gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, lodging three mining licence applications over the multi-million-ounce project.
The Boundiali South (BST), Boundiali DS (BD) and Boundiali Minex (BM) tenements are now all in application, spanning a combined 573 square kilometres of fertile West African greenstones.
The company says its submissions now cover the full project footprint, ahead of multiple imminent resource updates and a prefeasibility study due this quarter.
Aurum has switched into full development mode off the back of a solid 2025 that included more than 100,000m of drilling, an upgraded gold resource estimate of 2.41 million ounces for Boundiali and an estimated 870,000 ounces at its Napie deposit.
The company says its projects are due for even further resource upgrades this quarter, alongside a pre-feasibility study for Boundiali.
Aurum says it is planning to deliver a repeat exploration program this year with another 100,000m of diamond drilling at Boundiali, targeting two further resource updates mid and late-year, plus another 30,000m slated at Napié.
Boundiali sits in the same lucrative greenstone belt that hosts Resolute Mining’s 11.5-million-ounce Syama mine to the north, alongside Perseus Mining’s Sissingué and Bagoe operations. Barrick’s Tongon mine also lies within a few hundred kilometres, with the whole belt churning out well over half a million ounces of gold each year.
Aurum has been peppering the belt - resulting in significant drill hits since 2024 - culminating in a rapid resource growth this year. Multiple intercepts above 50 grams per tonne have continued to confirm the project’s high-grade core. At the same time, its broad, shallow zones have reinforced the deposit’s potential as a scalable bulk-tonnage development.
The company says it can now lift its stake in the core BM and BD prospects to as much as 88 per cent under existing joint venture terms, a priority move for management as it sharpens ownership ahead of any financing activity.
Aurum also recently acquired the neighbouring Napié project through its Mako Gold takeover last year. That exploration play contains 870,000 ounces of gold across a 23-kilometre gold-in-soil anomaly on a major shear zone, with only 13 per cent of the ground tested to date.
The group inventory stands at 3.28 million ounces. Meanwhile, the company has added a twelfth wholly owned rig to its fleet, providing control over costs and timelines across its West African portfolio.
Aurum closed out 2025 with an unaudited cash balance of $40.1 million and no debt, offering ample runway for ongoing exploration, resource growth and feasibility work without tapping the market.
With development now fully in sight, resource upgrades on deck and drill bits turning across Côte d’Ivoire, Aurum appears to be building a head of steam as it moves towards developer status in a proven gold district.
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By Andrew Todd
