Canada-listed gold company African Gold Group has been granted an extension by the government of Mali for its Faraba exploration permit for three years to August 2024.

The current mineral resource for the project area is hosted in a portion of the main Kobada shear, which has been interpreted to extend into the Faraba permit north of Kobada, representing an opportunity to expand resources through further exploration.

Initial soil sampling and termite mound sampling indicate strong extensions of the Foroko and Diaban shear zones.

There is the potential to increase the 55 km of identified shear zones further based upon initial results.

Historical artisanal workings indicate strong southwest-northeast trend along known shear zones into the Faraba exploration permit.

“The renewal of the Faraba permit is a key step forward in opening up the opportunity in our Faraba deposit, which shows significant potential in extending our 55 km shear zones even further.

“The extension of this permit for three years to 2024 will allow us to move into a more rigorous exploration programme to exploit the Foroko and Diaban shear zones to the northeast.

“Yet again, the results we have seen at Faraba, although at a very early stage, show a highly prospective exploration permit enabling extensions to two key shear zones that already exhibit historical artisanal workings and gold mineralisation,” says CEO Danny Callow.

The Faraba permit is a part of a group of permits located on the western flank of the Bougouni basin covering an area of 11 119 acres. The shear zones discovered in the Faraba concession form a part of the combined 55 km shear strikes, identified across the three concessions from previous geophysics and soil geochemistry.

The extension of the exploration permit will allow the company to proceed with the development of new and extended openpit opportunities at Faraba.

Successful exploration of these potential shear zones may lead to the extension of Kobada gold project’s mine life. 

The company says it continues to seek out additional opportunities through organic growth and exploration.

Development of the Faraba exploration permit and expansion of the existing resource at Kobada permit are among several organic growth projects in the company's pipeline.