Photo by: Bloomberg
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A recent drill campaign at West Africa-focused gold miner Amara Mining’s Yaoure project, in Côte d'Ivoire, has lifted the project’s indicated resource by 248% to 2.7-million ounces and increased headgrade by 14% to 1.36 g/t.
The mineral resource estimate was reported above a 0.5 g/t cutoff and constrained within an openpit shell using a long-term gold price of $1 500/oz.
Importantly, the resource was “robust” at lower gold prices, with 71% of the contained gold within the $1 500/oz pit shell included within the $950/oz pit shell.
An infill drilling programme had also confirmed the continuity of high-grade mineralised zones in both the CMA and Yaoure Central zones, reflected in the improving grade of the overall deposit.
Chairperson and CEO John McGloin said the Yaoure deposit continued to outperform the company’s expectations, with the mineral resource update showing strong improvements in the most economic part of the deposit, where the infill drilling programme had been focused.
“The indicated category now accounts for over 50% of the 3.5-million ounces contained in the $800/oz pit shell and 4.5-million ounces contained in the $950/oz pit shell.
“I am confident that the full resource update, due in December, will deliver a strong platform for the prefeasibility study (PFS), which is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2015,” he said in a statement on Monday.
The 83 000 m drilling programme was now over 75% complete and on track to conclude in mid-October.
Work was, meanwhile, under way on all elements of the PFS, including an extensive metallurgical testwork programme focused on confirming Yaoure's recovery rate, reagent consumption and comminution requirements.
A second, more comprehensive mineral resource update was expected in December, which was expected to upgrade further ounces from the inferred to the indicated category.