VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – West Africa-focused junior project developer Algold Resources has received a formal decree by the Mauritania government granting a 30-year mining licence for the Tijirit project.

Montreal, Quebec-based Algold in June announced that the Mauritania government intends to issue the mining licence, which will require Algold to deliver a feasibility study by December 2018. This decree formalised the Mauritanian Ministry of Oil, Energy and Mines' consent to the grant, first announced on June 12.

"This milestone is a significant achievement for both Mauritania and Algold. It is an important step in our growth plan for Tijirit, as well as for the development of other deposits within the licensed area, which extend over some 300 km²," CEO François Auclair stated.

It took the company less than 18 months since acquiring the prospective property to complete several rounds of financing to raise more than $20-million, including $3.7-million from Mauritanian partners, build a growing exploration camp, carry out 45 000 m of drilling in three phases, file a compliant resource report and receive the formal grant of a 30-year mining lease.

Algold chairperson Benoit La Salle noted: "Algold has made significant progress in a short period of time and we plan to continue to build on this success with a focus on execution and results."

Algold acquired Tijirit in April 2016 and started a significant exploration programme, under which it completed 20 000 m of drilling over two phases. The drilling highlighted a high-grade gold deposit with significant upside potential.

An initial resource calculation completed in March by SGS Geostat estimated an inferred gold resource of 602 130 oz at an average grade of 2.29 g/t gold.

Algold has completed metallurgical testwork on Tijirit that indicated recovery of up to 97% by gravity and cyanidation of the Eleonore-type mineralisation. The corporation further completed an environmental-impact assessment study, which was filed with the Oil, Energy and Mines Ministry in December 2016. In February, the ministry issued a favourable opinion to Algold.

Algold's 25 000 m Phase 3 drilling programme started on February 1 and remains ongoing, with the objective to further delineate the high-grade gold deposit at Tijirit.

Tijirit is demonstrating a rapidly growing high-grade resource. Early in May, Algold more than doubled the inferred resources at Tijirit, while lifting the gold grade by 25%.