Sula Iron & Gold (LON:SULA) reported high gold grades from the first four assays of an extended drill programme at Ferensola in Sierra Leone.
Nick Warrell, chief executive, said he was delighted with the outcome with the average length weighted grade of 3.72 g/t from the four holes was above average for open pit mining.
It was the big news of the week which also saw Hummingbird Resources’ (LON:HUM) first reserves statement for its Yanfolila gold project in Mali confirm its low cost potential according to its chief executive.
The explorer said Komana East and West, the first pits to be mined under the current plan, had gross maiden probable reserves of 6.82Mt at a grade of 3.03 g/t or the equivalent of 665,600oz gold.
Staying with the yellow metal, Noricum (LON:NMG) started drilling for gold at Kvemo Bolnisi, one of its priority targets at the recently acquired project in the Republic of Georgia.
Best result was 11m at 0.20% WO3 (tungsten) from 29m in Hole IRC1-35, though hole 34 showed 0.15% over 5m.
Meanwhile, Savannah Resources (LON:SAV) has estimated its Oman licences contain a maximum 700,000 tonnes of copper and 360,000 ounces of gold after a review of historical exploration data.
In copper news, Metal Tiger’s (LON:MTR) new joint venture in Botswana has completed has completed the acquisition 14 licences in the Kalahari copper belt.
The mining investor set up Metal Capital, a 30/70% JV with Aussie-listed MOD Resources, to acquire the licences previously owned by Discovery Mines.
Elsewhere, Weatherly International (LON:WTI) has upped the copper reserve estimate at its Tschudi mine, in Namibia, as it continues to slash costs and ramp up production.
Rambler Metals (LON:RMM TSX:RMM) swung back into profit in its latest quarter as copper grades recovered at its mine in Newfoundland.
The group posted a net profit of C$364,000 (C$276,000), helped by a gain on derivative financial instruments and reduced financing costs.
In other news, W Resources (LON:WRES) has reported more strong indications of tungsten from drilling at La Parrilla in Spain.
AIM quoted natural resource investor Metal Tiger (LON:MTR) said its chairman became its largest shareholder following a share subscription this week.
Chairman Terry Grammer is personally investing £240,000 into the company, buying 30mln new shares at a price of 0.8p each – which was the mid-market price at the time the transaction was agreed.
Finally, DiamondCorp (LON:DCP) said it has begun the ramp up towards commercial production from the Upper K4 (UK4) Block of the company’s Lace Mine in South Africa’s Free State.