Aurum uncovers wide high-grade gold zones at Napié in West Africa

Aurum Resources has delivered another batch of thick, near-surface, high-grade gold intercepts from its ongoing diamond drilling program at the company’s 870,000-ounce Napié gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. 

The campaign will provide the final key assays for the project's upcoming mineral resource update, due this quarter.

The latest results have come from Aurum’s ongoing 30,000-metre step-back diamond drilling program across its Tchaga and Gogbala deposits at Napié.

Aurum holds a 90 per cent interest in the Napié ground, which lies 95km southeast of its main block of Boundiali tenements.

The drilling involved a total of 26 holes for 8021m, comprising 15 holes for 4777 metres at Tchaga and 11 holes for 3244 metres at Gogbala.

The two deposits already contain an estimated 540,000 and 320,000 ounces of gold, respectively and continue to demonstrate strong potential for wide, open-pit-style mineralisation.

At Gogbala, Aurum reported a best intercept from the new dataset of 19m assaying 5.16g/t gold from 146m, including 14m at 6.76g/t gold, while its second best hole delivered 21m grading 2.01g/t gold from 157m, featuring a 10-metre section running at 3.87g/t gold.

Gogbala went on to complete an impressive trifecta with a flourish, adding a 6m run going 4.17g/t from 42m, which included a 1m teaser grading 19.92g/t gold.

At Tchaga, the top result came in with 18.9m at 2.59g/t from 176.1m, including 5.9m at 7.33g/t gold, while a second hole gave up 3m at 4.29g/t gold within a broader 28-metre zone grading 1.48g/t gold from 233m. 

A third hole at Tchaga kept up the momentum, returning 20m at 1.34g/t from 183.15m, including 6.25m running at 2.28g/t gold.

Aurum Resources managing director Dr Caigen Wang said: “This latest round of step-back diamond drilling at Napié continues to deliver broad, shallow, open-pitable intercepts, confirming the system's potential for substantial resource growth.”

Dr Wang added that the company’s step-back drilling has continued to deliver broad, shallow intercepts, highlighting Aurum’s owner-operator approach, with the company operating a 12-rig in-house diamond drilling fleet to drive rapid resource growth.

The latest Napié results will feed into Aurum’s dual-asset growth strategy across Côte d’Ivoire, where the global gold resources across its Boundiali and Napié projects currently total 3.90 million ounces. 

The company reported a strong cash position of $40.2 million at the end of the December quarter and clearly has the funds, drilling and exploration muscle to complete its ambitious and, to date, highly successful exploration programs.

Aurum’s earlier drilling from the same 30,000m campaign at Napié, reported late last year, confirmed gold mineralisation extending along a strike length of about 2.3 kilometres.

Notably, that mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth, with drilling already probing below 400m vertical depth, indicating significant potential for resource growth.

Aurum said its drilling at Tchaga and Gogbala will continue, with more results expected through the year. At the same time, the company’s planned update for the Napié mineral resource estimate is slated for release this quarter. 

At the project group level, Aurum expects to deliver its Boundiali pre-feasibility study in April 2026, positioning it for a heady and pivotal transition this year from explorer to developer.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au