Alecto Minerals (LON:ALO) has strengthened its portfolio with an all-paper acquisition of a low-cost, prospective gold project in Burkina Faso.
Exploration at the Kerboulé project has already shown wide gold mineralisation and high grade shoots with bonanza grades such as one metre at 188.11 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and another metre intersection of 86.48 g/t of the yellow metal, while former work has also shown drill-ready targets.
The project is owned by Kaizen Discovery and lies 20 metres along strike from the 5mln ounce Inata gold mine owned by Avocet Mining, which produced around 118,000 ounces of gold last year.
Notably, the purchase includes a fully equipped exploration camp at Kerboulé and an office in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
This bolsters Alecto's existing inventory of its own drilling equipment and will therefore help to keep costs down.
The initial consideration is £350,000 and will be satisfied by the issue of shares, the firm said.
Alecto chief executive Mark Jones said the acquisition was a "timely addition to our portfolio and in line with our strategy of acquiring complementary assets and rapidly seeking to unlock value at low cost".
"We believe that Kerboulé is capable of delivering significant returns for the company and this acquisition strengthens our asset portfolio by exposing our shareholders to a highly exciting project in a new territory, with extensive existing data and upside potential.
"Alecto has demonstrated that it is capable of delivering resource ounces at a very low cost, and turning acquisitions into desirable joint venture projects. Accordingly, we have a clear plan to establish a maiden resource at Kerboulé and thereafter expand on it while we identify and assess the earliest route towards monetisation.
"Whilst Burkina Faso may have been in the news recently due to the popular uprising that saw the departure of long-time President Blaise Compaoré, after 27 years in power, the country is now transitioning towards a newly elected government.
"Burkina Faso has already shown that despite the political changes it has remained open for business and our first class contacts and network in-country will allow us to operate effectively."
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