Dual-listed Altus Strategies has appointed independent consulting firm Mining Plus UK to update the historic resource and complete a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for an openpit oxide gold mine at the company's Diba project, in western Mali.

Diba is strategically located 13 km south of the multimillion-ounce Sadiola gold mine, in the 'Kenieba Window' gold belt.

The PEA will examine economic parameters for an openpit oxide gold mine.

The historic resource will be updated into a current National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource estimate.

Drill results after the historic resource include 5.36 g/t gold over 13 m and 9.60 g/t gold over 8 m.

Diba hosts a historical near-surface gold resource.

There are at least six further priority prospects that have yet to be drill tested at Diba.

“The Diba licence has substantial exploration upside with at least six additional prospective targets yet to be drill tested. However, the historic resource alone may already represent a very significant opportunity for Altus to create substantial near-term value,” comments Altus CEO Steven Poulton.

"In addition to the studies being undertaken on Diba and, in light of the importance of maintaining robust health and safety procedures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, our management and technical teams are active on several remote sensing and historical data compilation campaigns.

"These programmes aim to define exploration targets on existing projects, as well as identify potential new projects in countries where we do not currently have a presence. This work is integral to how Altus replenishes its pipeline of projects and ultimately generates new royalties. It also allows our team and contractors to work remotely, which is important at this current time,” he adds.

He notes that after the recent private placement and subsequent strategic investment by La Mancha, Altus has a strong cash balance of about £8.2-million, or C$14.3-million, and is well placed to assess potential opportunities.