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Maiden resource estimate for Burkina Faso gold project targeted

27th February 2015

  

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Gold and base metals exploration company Alecto Minerals is on track to achieve a maiden resource estimate for its 399.5 km2 Kerboulé gold project in the highly prospective Birimian-age Djibo gold belt, in northern Burkina Faso, later this year.

The company last month announced that a detailed internal analysis of the project’s historical drilling data identified three discrete deposits with sufficient drilling density to estimate contained resource ounces.

Through the analysis, Alecto also identified several vein sets and orientations in the drill core that the company believes could add significant value to future drilling campaigns.

The analysis also increased the understanding of the mine’s structures and mineralisation.

Alecto CEO Mark Jones says the company acquired the Kerboulé project in an all-share, low-cost transaction in November, and the completion of the internal review of the extensive historical drilling data is the company’s first step in advancing the project as rapidly as possible.

The extensive historical drilling database includes a total of 3 420 m from 12 diamond drill holes, all of which had significant intercepts, and 26 603 m from 264 reverse circulation holes, of which 180 had significant intercepts.

“The conclusions drawn by the technical team, following the analysis of the historic drilling data and the ongoing geochemistry evaluation, confirm the prospective nature of the project and we believe there is considerable opportunity to enhance the solid work that has been completed historically,” says Jones.

The work that has been done will assist the company, ensuring that its own drill holes, subject to funding, target the key structures, he adds.


The Kerboulé Project

Historically, geochemical surveys have been completed across the Kerboulé permits in the form of soil, termite and auger grids, with drilling concentrated on the Kerboulé-Yalema Corridor (KYC), a clearly defined mineralised structural trend located along strike from the six-million-ounce Inata gold mine.

The Inata gold mine is hosted in the Inata Trend – a several hundred-metre-wide high-strain zone. The basement rocks in the Inata and KYC structural zones consist of strongly altered, often saprolitic, schist and phyllite, volcanoclastic sediments, and occasional crosscutting magmatic dykes.

Alecto’s focus, while also identifying further regional targets, is the KYC, which contains significant mineralisation that has already been discovered from historic drilling within the permits and which the board believes will provide the basis of a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource estimate for the Kerboulé project this year.

The KYC is a 5-km-long and several hundred-metre-wide north-northeast, south-south- west-trending zone characterised by abundant quartz veining and extensive artisanal mining activities.

Several discrete targets exist within the KYC; namely Kerboulé North, Kerboulé Main and Kerboulé South, Yaléma and Yaléma East.

The majority of the historic drilling has taken place at the Kerboulé South and North prospects, where significant intercepts include 26 m at 2.37 g/t of gold from surface at Kerboulé South and 38 m at 3.95 g/t of gold from 121 m at Kerboulé North.

Two targets that lie on the northern extent of the structural corridor, Yaléma and Yaléma East, have also been drilled historically and yielded encouraging results.

Kerboulé South
The Kerboulé South prospect has seen the greatest drilling out of all the targets within the KYC, with a total of 12 878 m completed over 152 reverse circulation (RC) holes, of which 97 had significant intercepts, along with five diamond drilling (DD) holes for 1 320 m, all of which had significant intercepts.

The historic drilling has defined a pair of orebodies which trend north-northeast, south-southwest on the inside edges of strong geophysical anomalies clearly shown by induced polarisation (IP) geophysical surveys, and both cover about 200 m in strike length and 100 m to 180 m in width.


Kerboulé North
Kerboulé North lies 2.5 km north-northwest of Kerboulé South, along the western limits of the KYC and on another north-northeast, south-southwest-trending IP anomaly.

Drilling at this target comprised 6 612 m completed over 52 RC holes, of which 32 had significant intercepts, and three DD holes for 900 m, all of which had significant intercepts.

Significant intercepts from historic drilling at Kerboulé North include 38 m at 3.95 g/t of gold from 121 m, and 29 m at 4.0 g/t of gold from 121 m.

Edited by Leandi Kolver
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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