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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Following a July infill drilling programme, Aim-listed Armadale Capital has increased and upgraded the Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mineral resource estimate (MRE) at its Mpokoto gold project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, by 34% to 678 100 oz.
Some 75% of the overall MRE is now in the indicated category.
The programme also increased the oxide portion of the mineral resource by 25% to 159 000 oz of gold and recognised higher-grade zones in excess of 2 g/t, lying just below the base of the already-designed oxide pits.
This was coupled with a 30% overall increase in the transition portion of the resource to 125 000 oz of gold and a 32% overall increase in the fresh, unweathered portion of the resource to 394 000 oz of gold.
The indicated mineral resources within the oxide zone was, meanwhile, increased by 138% to 3.6-million tons, containing 144 400 oz of gold, while the overall grade improved from 1.42 g/t to 1.45 g/t.
“The programme further indicates significant upside potential, confirming that the deposit remains open along strike and at depth, with further room to define resources between the proposed pits,” the company said in a statement.
A further exploration target of between 1.4-million tons and 2-million tons, at between 1.2 g/t and 1.5 g/t of gold, located in the top 60 m below surface in the immediate surrounding location of the current resource areas, would be subject to a second-stage infill drilling programme.
Armadale director Justin Lewis said the scope and scale of the Mpokoto project continued to grow and fuel the group’s confidence that it would be able to deliver a low capital expenditure, low operational expenditure commercial gold mining project in the second half of 2015.
“It is also very gratifying to note the expansion in the shallow oxide resource, the initial focus of the group’s development plan, which has now grown by more than 672% since we acquired the project.
“The significant 34% increase in the mineral resource estimate considerably enhances the economics of the entire asset. Mpokoto offers highly attractive returns and near-term production potential, with robust economics even at low gold prices, and we are focused on rapidly advancing this project into production,” he outlined.
Lewis added that the granting of a mining licence was now in its final stages, along with a new pit optimisation process.
In addition, an expanded and updated scoping study was due to be published shortly.