Panthera Resources PLC (LON:PAT) has announced that drilling has commenced at the Bassala Project in Mali for a planned 9,000-metre air-core (AC) and reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme.
The gold exploration and development company said it will primarily comprise AC drilling to identify mineralised zones in the basement rock and 22 targets will be drill tested.
READ: Panthera continues to zero in on high-quality gold targets at Kalaka
Assay results are expected from the third quarter of 2021.
"While the Bassala Project is relatively early stage, its prospectivity and very close proximity to two significant gold mines has seen the company prioritise exploration activity on this project. Over the previous nine months, the company has completed an extensive gold in soil and ground magnetic survey and has also recently completed an IP survey,” said managing director Mark Bolton in a release.
“The exploration activity at Bassala has identified several, well-defined chargeability highs, over extensive zones, which are often associated with gold in soil anomalies and/or artisanal mining activity. Given the encouraging results, we have rapidly mobilised a drill rig to test these large anomalies before the onset of the wet season.”
“Bassala is only one of many of our projects in West Africa, that we are actively advancing to deliver shareholder value. Drilling is now underway at both Bassala and Labola and an IP survey is also underway at Kalaka."
Shares rose 2.5% to 12.3p on Tuesday late morning.