Name of the Project
Tabakoroni gold project.

Location
Within the Finkolo permit, 35 km south of the Syama gold mine processing plant, in southern Mali.

Project Owner/s
Resolute Mining.

Project Description
A prefeasibility study has assessed the potential for the construction of a new underground mine at Tabakoroni to supplement gold production from Resolute’s Syama gold mine.

The underground project is expected to produce 80 000 oz/y of gold using modified oxide processing infrastructure at the Syama mine. All existing infrastructure will be repurposed for the underground mine.

The project also includes a new paste plant, and power and underground infrastructure.

Operations at Tabakoroni are planned to start after the completion of the Syama oxide operations and have an initial four-year mine life.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Startup capital is estimated at $86-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Resolute Mining has announced a 40% increase in the gold resource at its Tabakoroni gold project, confirming the potential for a new openpit or underground gold mine.

The updated mineral resource estimate from ongoing exploration at the Tabakoroni main shear zone (TMSZ) has revealed a global measured and indicated mineral resource estimate of 9.2-million tonnes at 4.4 g/t gold for 1.3-million ounces of gold – an increase on the previously reported mineral resource estimate of 6.9-million tonnes at 4.3 g/t gold for 0.96-million ounces of gold.

Resolute previously published the maiden underground resource at Tabakoroni in April 2019, with mineral resource updates in 2020 and 2021. These estimates covered the TMSZ and excluded the splay area, which continue to be reported on separately.

Diamond drilling continued throughout 2021, focusing on outlining and expanding the coherent high-grade lens of mineralisation located underneath the Tabakoroni South oxide pit. The first intersections in this zone were reported on October 14, 2020, with drilling programmes since that time focusing on fully exploring this new zone.

Mineral resources for the southern high-grade zone were classified as inferred in the January 2021 mineral resource estimate announcement. Therefore, a major focus for drilling during 2021 was to upgrade this area of the mineral resource to the indicated category, Resolute has explained.

An updated mineral resource estimate for the TMSZ was completed in December 2022 using wireframe constrained ordinary kriged methodology, which was the same as previous estimates.

The infill and expansion drilling undertaken in 2021 resulted in the majority of the southern high-grade zone being upgraded to the indicated category.

Resource diamond drilling at 50 m centre density in the southern high-grade zone was achieved in 2021, allowing for the conversion of the majority of the previously classified inferred resource.

Resolute used the principals of reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction to restrict the global mineral resource using an openpit optimisation and a stope-shape optimisation for material below the openpit shell.

Both optimisations were completed at a resource gold price of $2 000/oz using mining and processing parameters likely to be encountered during the eventual extraction of the material such as the most likely mining methods and approximate mining and metallurgical parameters.

Resolute has said that the mineralisation at Tabakoroni remained open along strike and at depth, and that continued exploration success is expected to expand mineral resources further.

Drilling programmes to be undertaken in 2022 will focus on extensions of the mineralised zone south of TARD779, testing the depth extents of the high-grade zone under the South Pit and testing the northern plunge of the mineralisation underneath the North Pit.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Optiro (resource estimation); AMC Consultants (geotechnical logging and modelling, ground support, dilution); Solid Geology (structural and lithological interpretation and modelling); Outotec (backfill options analysis); Piteau (hydrogeology and water management); Digby Wells Environmental (environmental- and social-impact assessment); Osprey International (security analysis); Practara (economic modelling); Outotec (processing options, sulphide roast testing to produce calcine) and ALS Geochemistry (calcine leach and recovery testwork, ongoing variability testing).

Contact Details for Project Information
Resolute Mining, tel +61 8 9261 6100 or email contact@rml.com.au.