Aim-listed Katoro Gold had an active six months to June 30, with the continued development of the Imweru gold project, in Tanzania, and diversifying its portfolio with the acquisition of Kibo Nickel.
The company expects the Kibo transaction to be completed shortly, which will give Katoro access to the polymetallic Haneti nickel project, in Tanzania.
The Katoro board was attracted to Haneti, as it is a highly prospective, high-grade nickel sulphide asset.
Previous work has identified stellar grades of up to 13.59% nickel with additional gold, cobalt, platinum credits and some significant lithium anomalies.
Independent work has confirmed the potential for a significant nickel deposit and, on completion of the acquisition, Katoro will implement its own work programme to further confirm Haneti's prospectivity.
Meanwhile, Katoro has completed all technical aspects of the prefeasibility study for the Imweru project and engagement continues with the Tanzanian Ministry of Minerals regarding the mining licence application process.
Additionally, during the reporting period, Katoro managed to raise £325 000 through a placing with new and existing shareholders to finance the continued development of the Tanzanian projects and to provide general working capital.
The current Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mineral resource at Imweru consists of 11.6-million tonnes at a grade of 1.38 g/t for 515 110 oz of gold and the company believes there is significant potential to enhance this further, especially considering that exploration work to date has only covered 50% of the project area.
In support of this and, subject to the economic viability of Imweru being confirmed, the board will likely seek to upgrade and expand the Imweru resource to the one-million-ounce threshold.
“Looking at the broader development of the project, the company's decision to undertake a thorough assessment of Imweru's economic viability has meant that timelines have had to be altered.
“While our opinion of the project's inherent resource value potential remains unchanged, it is important that we gain a full understanding of the operating environment in which we now operate before making a strategic development decision,” commented Katoro chairperson Louis Coetzee in a results statement.
He added that the company’s focus will continue to be the efficient and cost-effective development of Imweru and Haneti so that it can further unlock the projects’ potential and capitalise on the growing market opportunities that are available.