JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A recently completed infill drill programme has increased the total resource inventory of Liberian gold exploration and development company Hummingbird Resources’ Dugbe 1 project to 4.2-million ounces and has “significantly increased" the indicated resource grade from 1.23 g/t to 1.56 g/t within the $1 200/oz-of-gold constrained pit.

In addition, the study increased the indicated resource at the tenement’s Tuzon gold deposit within a $1 500/oz-of-gold constrained pit to 42-million tonnes at 1.5 g/t of gold for two-million ounces.

This programme concluded the necessary resource drilling required for the project’s definitive feasibility study (DFS), which was on track to be completed in the third quarter of the year.

CEO Dan Betts said the “outstanding results" were the culmination of a “tremendous” effort by the Hummingbird Resources technical team and consultants. 

“The recently completed infill drilling has confirmed that the new resource model developed for Tuzon shows an impressive degree of predictability.

“This supports the material increase in the level of confidence now provided in this mineral resource estimate, with the indicated categorisation of over 80% of the total resource,” he said.

Betts added that this predictability also supported the company's belief in the ability to further increase the resource at Tuzon, which remained open in several directions.

The company also confirmed that the $5-million third tranche of the royalty funding from Anglo Pacific Group was in the process of being paid, which would take the cash balance of the company to some $10-million.

Hummingbird was fully funded through to the completion of the DFS.

“Other work on the DFS continues to unlock value and progresses well. Exploration efforts aimed at interpreting further near pit resources are ongoing and the original belief that Hummingbird is sitting on one of West Africa's prime new gold districts seems to be being borne out.  

“We believe that the Dugbe 1 project now represents one of the largest and one of the most robust undeveloped gold projects in West Africa and continues to demonstrate best in class value to potential investors,” Betts asserted.