Tietto Minerals has continued its impressive run of success in Cote d’Ivoire, Africa with ongoing drilling returning high-grade gold intercepts from the depth extensions to the 2.15 million-ounce Abujar-Gludehi gold project. The latest batch of assays includes intercepts of 2 metres at 19.94 g/t gold and 1 metre at an exceptional 35.14 g/t gold which should bolster the AG resource due for release in September.
Tietto is in the midst of a massive 50,000 metre development drilling program over its AG project. The aim of the program is to outline the high-grade core to the AG gold system and test a number of new targets within the regional project area. The company currently has more than 2100 samples awaiting assay with a further 1,800 samples expected to hit the lab later this week, setting up a potential pipeline of newsflow over the coming weeks.
Tietto Minerals Managing Director, Dr Caigen Wang said: “Our latest batch of high‐grade gold intercepts extend the high‐grade core at AG on Section 22B to at least 180 metres below the November 2019 Resource Model. On this section, step‐out drilling has successfully delineated a high‐grade gold footwall lode that stretches more than 180m down‐dip that would be attractive for an underground mine below a future open-pit operation.
“The Company’s five diamond drill rigs are currently testing depth extensions of the high-grade core at AG with five diamond holes up to 650m downhole, to provide 550m vertical cover over a 650m strike length. We remain on track for another Resource update for Abujar in September 2020.”
Tietto’s AG gold project is located in the central west of Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa. The project has excellent access to infrastructure with tarred roads and reticulated power less than 15 km away, with the regional centre of Daloa 30 km to the east of the discovery. The project covers more than 70 kms of strike of the gold-bearing AG host structure and is composed of three contiguous tenements covering 1114 square kilometres.
Interestingly, less than 10 per cent of the prospective tenure has been explored to date, potentially delivering a tremendous upside to the project.
Tietto last released a resource upgrade for the project in November 2019 of that brought the project up to a significant 2.15 million ounces of gold.
However, with an abundance of high-grade intercepts from recent drilling, Tietto is now barrelling its way towards potentially a significantly higher figure when its highly anticipated upgrade is released in September.
Drilling by Tietto has outlined an extensive high-grade core to the AG resource with the company reporting 40 intercepts in excess of 50-gram metres of gold from recent development work. The ongoing drilling program continues to extend this high-grade core which remains open along strike and at depth.
Today’s drill results come from deep drilling of the footwall lode at AG, some 180 metres below the current resource. The company is set to complete 15 diamond drill holes to test the ore system to a depth of more than 500 metres and this drilling will cover 650 metres of strike. Results from the first two holes from this program have not disappointed, delivering high-grade gold intercepts of 5 metres at 8.31 g/t, including 2 metres at 19.94 g/t and 1 metre at 35.14 g/t – further assays are expected in the coming weeks.
The company is now also deploying its fleet of drill rigs to test a range of targets within the AG project area, which it believes may lead to a rapid growth in resources and boost the economics of the developing operation.
Targets being tested outside the main AG resource area include AG South, a shallow high-grade target immediately south of AG, the APG target, an extensional shallow oxide resource 7 km south of the AG resource and the GGL zone immediately north of the AG discovery.
Tietto’s development program over the AG gold project is proving the discovery to be a large, high-grade gold system with significant potential for rapid resource growth through expansion of the existing resource position and nearby discoveries in the region.
With Tietto boasting more than $10 million in the bank, drill rods spinning and samples in the lab, there is a lot more to come from this company as it seeks to get a handle on just how big this project might be.
Is your ASX listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
