Panthera Resources PLC (LON:PAT) said the drilling programme at the Bassala gold project in Mali has ended and all samples have been shipped to the assay laboratory.
"The rapid progress of this drilling programme is very pleasing and assay results are eagerly awaited,” said managing director Mark Bolton. “It has been possible to obtain unweathered rock samples from most of the holes drilled and the additional depth of the holes has resulted in excellent coverage in the targets tested to date.
Drilling has been stopped due to the onset of the wet season and the deeper-than-expected drilling.
“A total of 13 targets have been drill tested with a further nine targets planned to be drill tested after the wet season later in the current year. The geology logged in drill holes completed is encouraging and includes several broad zones of quartz veining with associated silica-chlorite-sulphide alteration.”
The drilling programme focused on areas with the best historical drill intercepts, the highest order gold in soil geochemical anomalies and some of the highest order geophysical anomalies. The remaining targets planned to be drill tested later in the year comprise the majority of the active artisanal workings at Bassala.
“It is expected that first results will be reported within the next four weeks," added Bolton.