Aim- and TSX-V-listed African mining royalty generator Altus Strategies has found significant gold mineralisation, following 3 500 m of reverse circulation drilling at its Lakanfla Central prospect on the Lakanfla licence in western Mali.
Lakanfla forms part of Altus’ fully-owned, 105 km2 Diba and Lakanfla gold project and is located about 5 km east of Altus’ Diba licence, which hosts numerous gold prospects, including a shallow-dipping, near-surface gold deposit.
To date, drilling at the Lakanfla Central prospect has intersected gold mineralisation grading 1.23 g/t over 127 m from a depth of 21 m; including 2.53 g/t over 14 m from a depth of 46 m.
Altus CE Steven Poulton says the current 3 500 m drilling programme at Lakanfla forms part of a wider 10 000 m programme across the combined Diba and Lakanfla gold project.
“Lakanfla Central is one of at least four key prospects at Lakanfla, with gold mineralisation hosted in a number of sub-vertical breccia zones within a significant porphyritic granite, which has a current strike length of about 350 m,” he points out.
Lakanfla also hosts a number of widespread zones of intense hard rock artisanal workings.
Drilling at Lakanfla is designed to test the strike and down-dip potential of the Lakanfla Central prospect.
The latest campaign is also intended to confirm historical drilling results from other key prospects, including gradings of 5.1 g/t over 26 m from a depth of 32 m, 4.31 g/t over 18 m from 34 m and 1.02 g/t over 60 m from 105 m.
To date, Altus has received assays from the first two holes of a planned 22-hole programme.
“Once completed, the results from the combined drilling programme at Diba and Lakanfla will feed into an updated independent mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment for the project,” says Poulton.