KALGOORLIE (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study into the Bankan gold project, in Guinea, is due for completion by the end of the year, ASX-listed Predictive Discovery said on Monday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Diggers & Dealers conference, Predictive MD Andrew Pardey told Mining Weekly Online that the company was looking at a four-million- to six-million-tonne-a-year operation, delivering in excess of 250 000 oz/y over a mine life of at least 12 years.

Predictive on Monday announced a 29% increase to the total mineral resource estimate at Bankan, which now stood at 100.5-million tonnes, grading 1.66 g/t gold for 5.38-million ounces of contained gold.

Some 4.14-million tonnes, or around 77% of the total mineral resource is classified as indicated, providing a strong platform for the scoping study.

“The increase in Bankan’s mineral resource by 1.2-million ounces to 5.38-million ounces is an outstanding result and confirms its status as a tier-1 gold project. It is pleasing to see increases across the NEB openpit and underground resources, as well as the BC deposit, and excellent potential remains to further grow this resource base over time,” Pardey said.

“Importantly, we have continued to upgrade the mineral resource, with a total of 4.14-million ounces now classified as indicated. This is crucial to delivering a robust scoping study, which we aim to complete in late 2023 as a key step in the process to secure a mining permit for the project in the first half of 2024.

“On the exploration front, our focus is shifting further towards our ongoing reverse circulation drilling campaigns which are testing multiple near-resource targets as well as 11 drill targets at the highly prospective Argo area to the north. Any new discoveries will provide additional catalysts to Predictive’s exciting growth trajectory in what remains a highly prolific and underexplored gold district in West Africa.”