Altus Strategies PLC (AIM:ALS, TSX-V:ALTS, OTCQX:ALTUF) said drilling has confirmed the discovery of a significant new parallel zone of gold mineralisation from its joint venture at the Tabakorole gold project in southern Mali.
The statement followed an earlier release from the mining royalty company’s JV partner Marvel Gold Ltd (ASX:MVL), which recently completed 3,240 metres of diamond drilling targeting resource growth in the central and northwest zones of the Tabakorole deposit.
READ: Marvel Gold set to boost Tabakorole gold resource with new high-grade parallel lode
Notably, the previous drilling in the northwest zone had opened the possibility of a high-grade parallel lode of mineralisation over 120 metres of strike, which remains open and at depth.
Althus said drilling in the current programme has confirmed the presence of this new zone with results including 2.4 g/t Au over 24m from 35m and in the adjacent section 1.5 g/t Au over 21m from 26m (up dip from 2.0 g/t Au over 16m).
The drilling results are expected to increase the volume and grade of the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the project and an upgraded MRE for Tabakorole is planned for September, Altus said.
According to the MRE released in September 2020, the gold resource for Tabakorole comprised 16.6mln tonnes at 1.2 g/t Au for 620,000 ounces in the inferred category and 7.3mln tonnes at 1.2 g/t Au for 290,000 ounces in the indicated category.
Altus holds a 49% equity interest and 2.5% Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty on the Tabakorole project, with exploration activities being funded by Marvel Gold.
Steven Poulton, chief executive of Altus, commented: "The discovery of this parallel, shallow and high-grade gold zone has significant implications for the potential of the Tabakorole gold project in southern Mali.
“These programmes have successfully extended the deposit's strike length to the northwest and southeast and intersected new shallow and high-grade mineralisation outside of the current deposit model. The results are anticipated to contribute to an updated Mineral Resource Estimate, expected later this month. We look forward to updating shareholders on the results of this work in due course."