VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – West Africa-focused gold producer Endeavour Mining has expanded the mineralised trends at both its Houndé and Karma gold mines, in Burkina Faso, the company announced on Monday.
At its flagship Houndé operation, which declared commercial production ahead of schedule and below budget on November 1, an initial reconnaissance exploration drilling campaign conducted in early 2017 validated Houndé's significant exploration potential with high-grade mineralisation confirmed at the Kari and Sia/Sianikoui targets, along with several others.
The exploration campaign was the first following an absence of nearly two years. The company advised that drilling efforts were prioritised on the Kari target, owing to its potentially significant size, with a large gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly currently covering a 6-km-long by 2.5-km-wide area.
Only 25% of this large gold-in-soil anomaly was drilled to date, with efforts focused mainly in the eastern part within an area named Kari Pump. The structure was drilled over 1 km along strike and across a width of more than 200 m, with mineralisation remaining open along strike and at depth, the company advised.
Drill results confirmed high-grade mineralisation with notable intercepts, including 43.39 g/t gold over 6.2 m, 8.75 g/t gold over 12.2 m and 4.81 g/t gold over 9 m.
Endeavour expects to start an infill and extension drilling campaign at Kari Pump in early 2018, to extend and better define its mineralisation, with a maiden resource targeted in the second half of 2018.
The remaining 75% area of the large Kari gold-in-soil anomaly is also planned to be drilled in the first half of 2018.
Further to the Kari area, Endeavour will also drill out the Sia/Sianikoui target, among others.
At the Karma mine, which Endeavour acquired from True Gold in 2016, exploration drilling focused on the 600-m-long mineralised area discovered at the Yanonsgo target. Reconnaissance drilling suggests potential for further extension, the company advised.
The most notable intercepts included 8.1 m at 15.8 g/t gold, 6.3 m at 11 g/t gold, and 9.9 m at 6.67 g/t gold.
Endeavour expects to publish a maiden resource for the Yanonsgo target during the first quarter of 2018.
The company noted that it had discovered oxide mineralisation on a parallel structure east of the North Kao deposit. Most notable intercepts included 33.2 m at 4.13 g/t gold and 22.8 m at 4.18 g/t gold.
A resource for this parallel structure is also expected to be delineated in the first three months of 2018, the company advised.