Aim-listed Shanta Gold has been awarded a mining licence for the Porcupine South area within the Lupa Gold Fields of Tanzania.
The orebody, which the company discovered in 2020, is located 22 km from its New Luika processing plant.
The mining licence, including extendable periods, spans 30 years.
Shanta intends to make Porcupine South the central piece to a district approach, with the miner owning more licences in the surrounding area.
The company’s existing compliant resources total 114 000 oz, while past exploration by third parties in licences adjacent to Porcupine South has resulted in more than 320 000 oz of surface resources and 158 000 oz of underground resources.
“The award of this mining licence is a major catalyst towards consolidating this district in what would otherwise be an area of stranded uneconomic ounces, with no access to a processing plant,” comments CEO Eric Zurrin, adding that Shanta plans on converting resource ounces into mineral reserves and extended the mine life of New Luika as a whole.
The company plans on undertaking drilling on Porcupine South in the second half of the year, which will be focused on defining the geometry of the mineralised structures and testing their down-plunge continuity extension. The drilling will test the mineralised structure level down to 120 m.
This follows on work already done by the company, including reinterpretation of the induced polarisation geophysics data, soil sampling for the entire licence area and its adjacent tenements, surface mapping and petrographic studies.
New Luika remains the linchpin in Shanta’s commitment to self-financed growth.
Meanwhile, the nearby Singida gold project is on track to start production in the first quarter of 2023.