Cora Gold (CORA) on Thursday revealed a maiden pit constrained Mineral Resource Estimate from independent consultants SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd for the Sanankoro gold project in southern Mali.
The West African gold explorer revealed an inferred mineral resource of 5.0 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.6 g/t Au for 265,000 ounces of gold.
Cora Gold CEO Jonathan Forster said: "We are pleased to announce the initial mineral resource estimate for Sanankoro, which was focused on the oxide, starter-pit, potential of the Project, targeting the opportunity for a low-cost mining operation.”
“This estimate is the first step in defining the overall oxide potential at the Project, where to date less than a quarter of the 1-2Moz SRK Exploration Target has been tested.”
Shares in Cora were trading 4.35% higher at 6p during Thursday morning
Cora Gold said the maiden estimate was a reconfirmation of the SRK derived Exploration Target of between 30 Mt and 50 Mt at a grade of between 1.0 and 1.3 g/t Au, for about 1-2 million ounces of gold, originally derived in 2018.
Cora Gold revealed that the estimate was based on under 25% of the total 40 linear km strike length of the potential mineralised zones it has identified to date.
The company said the majority (88%) of the Inferred Mineral Resource was derived from oxide material, and that it encountered mineralisation up to 170 m depth with the current pits extending to a maximum depth of 130 m, believing it offers ‘significant upside potential’.
Mr. Forster said: “We have also been able to include a small amount of sulphide material in the MRE, confirming our belief that exploration expansion into the sulphide zones could provide significant future upside.”
He added: "We remain on track to deliver an initial Scoping Study this quarter. This study will assist in de-risking the Project by establishing the framework for understanding the economics of a future mine development and also provide guidance for the on-going exploration programmes to maximise the delineation of further economic mineralisation."
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