VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Quebecois junior project developer Algold has received a 30-year mining licence from the Mauritania government that will be ratified by decree by the Mauritanian Council of Ministers.
Under terms of a mining licence grant, Algold will deliver a feasibility study by December 2018.
"This milestone is a significant achievement for both Mauritania and Algold and is important to our growth plan for Tijirit, as well as for the development of other deposits over the licence area, which extends over 300 km2," said CEO François Auclair.
Algold acquired Tijirit in April 2016 and started a significant exploration programme, under which it completed 20 000 m of drilling (Phase 1 and 2). The drilling highlighted a high-grade gold deposit with significant upside potential.
An initial resource calculation completed in March by SGS Geostat estimated an inferred gold resource of 602 130 oz at an average grade of 2.29 g/t gold.
Algold has completed metallurgical testwork on Tijirit that indicated recovery of up to 97% by gravity and cyanidation of the Eleonore-type mineralisation. The corporation further completed an environmental-impact assessment study, which was filed with the Oil, Energy and Mines Ministry in December 2016. In February, the ministry issued a favourable opinion to Algold.
Algold's Phase III 25 000 m drilling programme started on February 1 and remains ongoing, with the objective to further delineate the high-grade gold deposit at Tijirit.
The company recently closed an equity financing of C$7.5-million to be used to carry out exploration drilling at Tijirit, which is demonstrating a rapidly growing high-grade resource. Early in May, Algold more than doubled the inferred resources at Tijirit, while lifting the gold grade by 25%.