West African gold play tops 3Moz as Aurum builds momentum

Aurum Resources has delivered a blockbuster mineral resource estimate upgrade at its flagship Boundiali gold project in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, pushing the project’s global inventory to 3.03 million ounces at one gram per tonne (g/t) gold.

The JORC-compliant estimate, signed off by Independent Perth-based geotechnical consultancy SLR, marks a stunning 26 per cent jump on Aurum’s September 2025 resource estimate of 2.41 million ounces of gold. 

The total resource now stands at 99.7 million tonnes grading 1g/t, driven by infill and extension drilling at Aurum’s BST1, BDT2, BDT3, and BMT3 deposits.  No changes have been made to the company’s BDT1 and BMT1 deposits at this stage.

The result was further sweetened by the definition of a higher-grade 1.61-million-ounce component at 1.7g/t gold, using a 1g/t gold cut-off grade, which highlights a robust economic potential. 

Notably, the combined total indicated resources for Boundiali have surged to 40.8 million tonnes at 1.0g/t gold, a 49 per cent – a hike of more than 450,000 ounces of gold - to a total of 1.37 million ounces of gold.

The upgrade – particularly the shift of a chunky slice of inferred ounces into the higher-confidence indicated category -  is a major de-risking step for Aurum’s upcoming prefeasibility study (PFS), which the company expects to complete by the end of the first quarter this year. 

Adding more weight to Aurum’s lofty ambitions in Côte d'Ivoire, the company’s overall consolidated group resource - including the nearby Napié's project with 0.87 million ounces of gold - now totals 3.90 million ounces. A resource update for Napié is also looming for the end of the first quarter.

Aurum Resources managing director Dr Caigen Wang said: “This MRE update represents a significant milestone at our Boundiali gold project, headlined by a substantial 49% increase (+450koz) in Indicated Resources to 1.37 Moz gold.”

Aurum’s focused, and lately relentless, drilling blitz using its self-owned fleet of a dozen highly mobile diamond rigs continues to deliver, taking the resource from zero to 3.03 million ounces in just 26 months, with mineralisation still open along strike and at depth and multiple targets yet to feel a drill bit.

Following last year’s determined assault on the gold gods, Aurum has plans for another mighty 100,000m diamond drilling program in the current year - already in full swing - and is planning another serious Boundiali resource estimate by the end of the third quarter.

The Boundiali project sits in the prolific Birimian greenstone belt.  The company’s operational neighbours include Resolute Mining's 11.5-million- ounce Syama gold project and Barrick Gold's five-million-ounce Tongon mine. 

Montage's six-million-ounce Koné gold show and Perseus' 1.4-million-ounce Sissingué operation further reinforce the regional-scale potential of the greenstone belt. 

Infrastructure is generally excellent, with sealed roads, a 225kV power grid that crosses the company’s tenement area, flat terrain, year-round access and proximity to Korhogo airport.

Metallurgical testwork shows that the gold ore is free-milling, with recoveries of better than 95 per cent using combined gravity and leach processing, which, when combined with low reagent use, augurs well for simple, scalable open-pit mining and processing.

No modern commercial mining history has been undertaken at Boundiali. However, extensive local artisanal activity in some near-surface weathered areas has taken advantage of the relatively soft digging using hand tools.

The resource depletions from historic artisanal mining have been corrected for in the resource estimates.

Aurum remains well-funded to support its ongoing and immediate programs, with $40.2M in cash on hand as of the end of last year.

Aurum’s rapid execution of resource development, category upgrades, and PFS momentum in a tier-1 region with prolific gold occurrences and a solid news flow looks like West African gold development momentum at its best.

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