Australia-based junior mining com- pany Papillon Resources is looking forward to increasing its investor profile at the twentieth Investing in African Mining Indaba, Papillon Resources MD and CEO Mark Connelly tells Mining Weekly.

The company, one of the sponsors of the Australia Lounge, will also have an exhibition booth at the event, which will take place from February 3 to 6 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Connelly says the Mining Indaba is the best conference to attend for companies working in Africa, which is why Papillon Resources has been participating in the event since 2007. “As a company operating in Africa, it provides a great profile and exposure to potential investors and service providers, as well as government officials and repre- sentatives,” he explains.

He adds that the Mining Indaba is important to the South African mining industry, as it “showcases the local resources industry to the global resources community”.

In preparation for the event, Connelly notes that Papillon Resources invited analysts in November to visit its flag- ship Fekola project, a gold mine adjacent to the Senegal border, in south-western Mali.

The company announced in September that Fekola had a gold mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 68.29-million tons, averaging 2.35 g/t for a contained 5.15-million ounces of gold at a lower cutoff grade of 1.0 g/t.

The MRE comprises 60.01-million tons averaging 2.4 g/t for a contained 4.64- million ounces of gold, classified in the measured and indicated resource categories, which represents about 90% of the MRE. The inferred resource comprises 8.3-million tons averaging 1.9 g/t for a contained 0.5-million ounces of gold.

Meanwhile, Connelly notes that the African mining industry is challenged by the industry-specific skills shortage and the base cost of doing business on the continent, making it difficult for African mining countries to secure investments and develop the industry.

He adds that, to address this challenge, Papillon Resources will employ skilled individuals from around the world and closely control costs at its African operations.