Aurum Resources has delivered another strong round of diamond drilling results from its ongoing 100,000-metre program at the company’s 2.41-million-ounce Boundiali gold project in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa.
The latest assays from 30 holes for 7208m of drilling have wrapped up the final data batch for the company’s Boundiali mineral resource estimate (MRE) update, which is due later this month.
At the BDT3 target, in the central west of Aurum’s BD tenement, 11 drillholes have extended the current mineralisation 600m north of BDT3’s 130,000-ounce resource model limits.
Standout hits included one hole that delivered 9m assaying 8.15 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 207 metres, featuring 2m going more than one ounce of gold per tonne.
A second hole in the same target nailed 9m at 8g/t gold from 223m, including a 1-metre core running an eye-watering 70.37g/t gold, or almost two ounces of gold per tonne.
The results confirm that high-grade potential exists well beyond Aurum’s previous modelling and positions the deposit for meaningful resource growth through additional drilling.
At the BST1 target, about 19 kilometres south of BDT3, extensional holes have added an average of 130m in vertical depth below the existing 360,000-ounce mineral resources.
Best intercepts include 10m at 2.51g/t gold from 170m, including 5m at going 4.74g/t gold and 18.4m grading 1.04g/t gold from 240m. The system remains open along strike and at depth.
Gold at Boundiali is hosted in sedimentary packages with pyrite, quartz veining and alteration. The material is free-milling and structurally controlled. True widths range between 60 and 85 per cent of reported intercept lengths.
Aurum Resources managing director Dr Caigen Wang said: “These new results continue to demonstrate the Boundiali system remains underexplored, demonstrating a scale of gold endowment well above our current Mineral Resources.”
With an unaudited cash balance of about $40 million as the close of last year, Aurum remains fully funded for its planned aggressive 130,000-metre drill program through this year, backed by a fleet of a dozen drill rigs.
Key near-term catalysts for the company include a Boundiali mineral resource update this quarter, in tandem with another mineral resource update for the company’s other gold project, Napié, 90km to the southeast of Boundiali.
The company also expects to complete its Boundiali pre-feasibility study in the current quarter, setting the stage for its planned definitive study later in the year.
Aurum’s Boundiali deposits all remain open and appear to have abundant scope for the discovery of blind deposits throughout the known mineralised corridor.
The latest drilling results have provided compelling evidence of extensions, further de-risking the BDT3 and BST1 prospects and strengthening confidence across the overall Boundiali project. They have also served to enlarge the resource base ahead of a major update.
Aurum looks to be delivering the goods at its West African flagship project, with high-grade strike and depth extensions keeping the Boundiali story firing on all cylinders.
With feasibility studies and more drilling results on the horizon, punters are likely to be keeping a laser focus on news flow in the upcoming, action-packed first quarter window.
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By Doug Bright
