The trenching programme on the Fié trend at the Kobada gold project, in southern Mali, undertaken by Canadian-headquartered miner African Gold Group (AGG), has shown promising results.

AGG’s principal asset is the Kobada project, which is in an advanced stage of development having completed the 2021 definitive feasibility study and where gold production of 100 000 oz/y is targeted.

Highlights include the programme’s expansion of AGG’s footprint as the mineralised shear zones discovered on the mine confirm the similarity of the geological structure to the Kobada main shear zone and the Gosso shear zone.

The second trench is 80 m long with good intersections within one metre grading 2.27 g/t and one metre at 8.11g/t, while trench three crosscuts several E-W veins and veinlets with many intersections within six metres grading 1.39 g/t followed by another five metres at 1.19 g/t with over 2.5 g/t at several places.

Further, grab samples taken close to trench three in the historical artisanal mining zone at three metres deep have E-W quartz veinlets occurring into the sap. The samples from the about five metres-wide pit have an average grade of 2.79 g/t, while additional positive anomalies from trench five and six at Fié trend require further testing.

“The anomalies found across multiple trenches in the Kobada Est concession indicated our continued confidence in the upside potential of the overall AGG portfolio. The progression of exploration into our adjacent concession – as part of our requirement to deliver commitments [for] our licences – continues to give us great confidence in the upside potential of the overall project,” said AGG CEO Danny Callow.

The Fié trend is a part of the Kobada Est exploration permit and forms part of the combined 55 km of shear zones, identified across the three concessions from previous geophysics, soil geochemistry and other regional exploration. The Kobada Est is a part of a group of permits located on the western flank of the Bougouni basin covering an area of 63 679 acres.

The trenching programme was completed in October 2021, with the aim of confirming the Fié trend anomaly. Two trenches with a combined length of 110 m, and an average depth of 2.5 m, with 0.5 m to 1.5 m in laterite and 0.5 m to one metre in the saprolite. The mapping of the trenches showed many different narrow veinlets with variable measurements such as azimuth and dips. The anomalous veins were sub-vertical – 75º to 90º – with general orientation in the east-west direction.

Following a strong commitment from shareholders in the previous private placement raise, AGG is budgeting additional funds to start to drill out the most prospec tive shear zones in both the Faraba and Kobada Est explora tion concessions.

Further, AGG has granted a total of 500 000 stock options to director Douglas Jendry pursuant to the company’s stock option plan. This is subject to approval.