MetalsGrove sharpens West African gold hunt with terrain mapping

MetalsGrove Mining has fired the starting gun on a new round of target-hunting at its Zuénoula gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. The company is rolling out an integrated program of surface mapping, rock chip sampling and high-resolution topographic (LiDAR) imaging to quickly zero in on the most promising drill targets. 

The new work will be carried out by SEMS Exploration Côte d’Ivoire SARL, with a focus on following up hotspots within MetalsGrove’s Zuénoula permit. Zuénoula, together with the company’s other three projects in its Gemica and Stellar joint venture permits, forms part of the company’s 1315 square kilometre Central West gold project. 

First cab off the rank is a detailed regolith landform mapping campaign, aimed at making sense of surface materials and how they might mask or disperse gold signals in an area with limited outcrop. 

The regolith study is designed to distinguish locally sourced geochemical anomalies from those that may have been transported from further afield, a key step in transforming broad geochemical clues into drill-ready targets.

The field crew will also undertake systematic traverses to collect rock-chip samples and conduct mapping, before combining the results with existing soil geochemistry and remote sensing data. 

In parallel with the surface surveys, MetalsGrove also plans to fly a high-resolution drone-based LiDAR survey across 21 square kilometres of the prospective area. The company hopes to achieve a high degree of accuracy with up to 94 data points per square metre.

LiDAR, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses pulses of laser light to measure distance. By recording millions of measurements, the survey can create a detailed 3D map of the land surface that can be used to produce very high-resolution terrain maps.

MetalsGrove Mining managing director and chief executive officer Lijun Yang said: “The commencement of detailed regolith mapping and high-resolution LiDAR surveying at Zuénoula represents an important step in advancing our exploration strategy across the Central West Gold Project. These programs will provide critical datasets to better understand regolith development, structural controls and gold dispersion patterns across the project area.”

The digital data can be used in various types of modelling, allowing geos to accurately position other digital data, such as mine pits designs, onto the local terrain. 

The method can also reveal very fine surface detail, such as faint tracks, small and large excavations, unstable ground, signs of faults and geological contacts at surface and even the smallest areas that point to historic human habitation or activity. It operates in most environments and is not significantly affected by thick vegetation.

The high-definition survey is expected to produce detailed models that highlight subtle structures and topographic features that may control mineralisation in the Birimian greenstone belts.

Last week, the company revealed the latest soil sampling results from a district-scale 1km-by-1km survey had sniffed out a second gold target area, dubbed the Fifty-Five Area. The discovery has prompted follow-up sampling on a 400m-by 400m sample grid, with results pending.     

The Fifty–Five Area adds to the previously-defined Central and South East Corner targets within Zuénoula, all of which have now been sampled on a tighter grid, with results pending.    

Zuénoula lies 160 kilometres south of Aurum Resources’ combined 3.9 million ounce Boundiali-Napié gold project duo. While Aurum’s Boundiali ground sits in a different part of the highly prospective Birimian greenstone belt, its Napié project lies on the northern extension of the same greenstones that host MetalsGrove’s project, along strike from Zuénoula and on a major northeast-trending fault structure.

MetalsGrove’s ground lies in a neighbourhood dotted with several multi-million-ounce gold deposits, including the 3.8-million-ounce Abujar gold project and the 3.9-million-ounce Yaouré gold project, both within 100km of Zuénoula. All three operations are positioned along the same richly-endowed stretch of the Birimian greenstone belt.

With its field crews aiming to complete the new survey work by the end of March, MetalsGrove looks to be stacking up the kind of practical, high-value information that can quickly turn a promising gold corridor into a focused drill plan. 

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