AIM-, TSX- and OTCQX-listed Altus Strategies was awarded a small-scale gold mining licence by the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water in Mali on April 15. The mining licence was issued in respect of the company's 100%-owned 83.1 km2 Korali Sud licence, comprising the Diba gold project located in western Mali.
Diba hosts the Diba Deposit, Diba NW and Diba Far East prospects and is located about 5 km west of Altus’ 24 km2 Lakanfla gold exploration licence.
The company has commissioned independent consulting firm Mining Plus of Bristol, UK, to update the mineral resource estimate (MRE) and preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the combined Diba and Lakanfla project.
The latest MRE for the Diba deposit shows about 4.8-million tonnes at 1.39 g/t gold for 217 000 oz in the indicated category and about 5.4-million tonnes at 1.06 g/t gold for 187 000 oz in the inferred category.
The mining licence was granted for an initial four-year period, which is renewable until the deposit is depleted.
Further, the mining licence is transferable to third parties with approval from the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water.
“This [mining licence] endorses our royalty generation strategy of adding value to our project portfolio through derisking and technical validation before transacting with third party developers.
“With the expiry of the current exploration licence, the mining licence provides the company with long-term security of tenure for the project. This is especially important as an updated MRE and PEA for the combined Diba and Lakanfla project is under way and is due to be published in the next three months,” Altus CE Steven Poulton said on March 19.
The new mining licence was granted to the 100% Altus-owned Mali incorporated subsidiary LGC Exploration Mali, in accordance with the African country’s mining code.
The company's application for the mining licence included various studies and files, including an environmental permit, a mine closure and rehabilitation plan and a community development plan. There are no statutory minimum expenditure commitments under the mining licence.
Altus retains the option to apply for a full-scale mining licence at a later date, subject to the delineation of a larger MRE, the company said.
The mining licence includes requirements for quarterly and yearly operational reports to be submitted to the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water.
Meanwhile, Altus is required to pay a yearly surface royalty of about $170/km2.