Ethiopia-focused gold exploration and mining company Akobo Minerals has hit visible gold in its first drill hole at the third mineralisation style, 140 m from the main Segele area in Ethiopia.

Akobo said in a statement on February 3 that, following the recent announcement of the discovery of the third mineralisation style, the exploration team continued work to understand the host structure by mapping and sampling. This work ultimately led to three trenches being dug where the host rock was uncovered.

Following the trench work, the team developed the first drill hole which intersected 5 cm of mineralisation with visible gold at 30 m down hole depth. However, the hole also intersected an artisanal (kofari) mining pit, where up to 1.5 m of potentially mineralised material had been mined in direct contact with the gold-bearing intersection.

“Is this the next Segele? Only time will tell. But the fact that we are hitting gold in our first drill hole is very promising. Our exploration team will follow up this target and many others in the near future,” Akobo Minerals CEO Jørgen Evjen said.

Following this pleasing result, a second hole has already been started and will target the mineralisation about 5 m below the first intersection, the company said.

The trenches have been examined in detail, providing the company with a better understanding of the structural geology that controls the gold mineralisation. The current drill programme will be adapted to target the structures in the host lithology based on these results.

Akobo said that, if the current drill programme is successful, this mineralisation will immediately be accessible for mining and it will be a direct addition to the mine life of Segele.

Since the process plant and mine is already under construction, the lead times from discovery to extraction can be very short, Akobo said, claiming that mining could start as soon as the mineralisation is defined and deemed economic.

Moreover, the close proximity of the new discovery to the active mining area and processing plant would enable a swift assessment of economic factors and possible fast-track to production, the company said.