Mineral exploration company Predictive Discovery (PD) is seeking partners that can assist in funding and developing its gold exploration projects in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire.

The company aims to raise sufficient funds –about A$5-million a year – to undertake explor-ation and development work on its projects.

PD MD Paul Roberts notes that the Bonsiega project, in eastern Burkina Faso, covers nine exploration permits totalling 1 045 km2 in an area with a strike length of about 100 km.

He points out that Bonsiega comprises a series of prospects containing ore-grade gold intercepts. These include Bongou, Dave, Fouli, Laterite Hill, Bira and Prospect 71, all of which are 100% owned by PD.

Bongou itself covers artisanal workings in the form of an irregular openpit about 150 m long and 50 m wide. Gold mineralisation is contained within an intensely silicified, quartz-veined and pyritic microgranite intrusion.
In 2014, PD released a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource estimate for the 2.2-million-tonne deposit averaging 2.6 g/t gold containing 184 000 oz gold within the bounds of a conceptual openpit, which is separate from and additional to the exploration target.

Roberts says that, in addition, PD has esti-mated an exploration target based on the drilling of prospects within 10 km of Bongou of between 9.4-million and 10.4-million tonnes averaging between 1.5 g/t gold and 1.7 g/t gold and contain-ing between 460 000 oz and 530 000 oz of gold.

PD also holds the “highly prospective” Kokoumbo, Ferkessedougou, Boundiali and Kounahiri exploration permits, in Côte d'Ivoire, which collectively cover 1 533 km2. These are currently being managed in joint venture (JV) with gold exploration and development company Toro Gold.

Toro Gold has agreed to spend $1-million to earn 51% in PD’s Côte d'Ivoire subsidiary, Predictive Discovery Cote d'Ivoire, which holds all PDI's Côte d'Ivoire ground.

After Toro has earned 51%, PD may choose to contribute or dilute in stages. If PD chooses to dilute, Toro can earn 65% by spending an additional $2.5-million and up to 90% by sole-funding through to a full feasibility study.

“The long-term aspiration for all PD’s projects is to develop mines in which it will have substantial stakes. It is likely, at least on the Toro JV projects and on the Bonsiega project, that we will have a minority shareholding,” he states.

The Bobosso project, in central-north-eastern Côte d'Ivoire, forms part of the PD portfolio, which the company is managing and for which it is seeking project level finance to progress exploratory work on site.

“It is unclear at this stage . . . whether we will hold a majority or minority stake in this project,” Roberts tells Mining Weekly.

The project comprises the Wendene and Bassawa permit areas, which have a very large gold mineralised system of 7 km2 of soil anomalies averaging 0.4 g/t gold, with past drilling including 5 m at 21 g/t gold.

Applications for Bassawa and Wendene were made by Cote d'Ivoire -based mining and exploration company XMI. The Bassawa permit was granted in July 2015 and the Wendene permit in December 2015. Bassawa and Wendene each cover 400 km2.

Roberts highlights that Bobosso has a high concentration of near-surface alluvial and colluvial gold mineralisation, which presents the opportunity for early production of gold on site in an openpit operation.

There are also deeper low-grade concentrations of weathered gold zones, which could be extracted using heap-leach or carbon-in-pulp processes, he adds.

“We aim – subject to raising the required capital – to issue a resource on the Bobosso project towards the end of this year,” Roberts comments.

Until then, the company and its JV partners will continue to undertake extensive drilling campaigns on specific target areas to evaluate and better understand the geology and gold grades in the region.

PD is analysing the alluvial gold that has been recovered at Bobosso and is relogging previously drilled holes. The company is also assessing the regional potential for new gold discoveries. The company aims to complete this work between July and August.

Roberts says PD will then look to raise additional capital at project level to allow for another drilling programme.

The aim is to calculate resources and expand them incrementally as the company completes the various exploration phases. “This would bring us closer to developing an active mine, subject to capital availability,” he states.

Further, he points out that Toro is actively progressing the Kokoumbo and Boundiali projects – two of the four permits that form part of the JV.

The company has confirmed the extension of the 5.6-km-long gold-in-soil anomaly, first announced in October 2015, with values including 2.1 g/t gold, 1.3 g/t gold and
1 g/t gold for Boundiali.

“A strong and coherent 2-km-long soil anomaly at the southern end of the zone has been defined on a 200 m × 50 m sample density and Toro plans to start reverse circulation drilling in April, with first drill results expected to be announced between May and June,” states Roberts.

He adds that, in March, Toro started a diamond drilling programme on the Kokoumbo permit. Drilling is targeting gold mineralisation encountered in chip-channel sampling in the Kokoumbo Hill prospect, including 44 m at 3.8 g/t gold, 2 m at 25.7 g/t gold and 26 m at 2.9 g/t gold.

“Recent large-scale artisanal mining has exposed large areas of bedrock and the JV’s
discus- sions with artisanal miners suggest that much of it is auriferous,” Roberts concludes.