Firefinch Ltd (ASX:FFX) has substantially increased the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for both its Viper and N’Tiola Deposits within the Morila 'the Gorilla' Gold Project in Mali.
The Viper MRE increased by 128% to 3.27 million tonnes at 1.15 g/t gold for 119,000 ounces of contained gold while the N’Tiola MRE increased by 18% to 2.90 million tonnes at 1.03 g/t gold for 96,000 ounces of contained gold.
The total mineral resources for the Morila Gold Project are now 2.5 million ounces of gold.
Viper mineralisation is now defined over 1.5 kilometres of strike with further drilling planned at both deposits in 2022 to test extensions to mineralisation.
Mining at Viper is underway while mining at N’Tiola will soon follow.
Both will contribute substantially to mill feed in 2022-2023 as Morila production ramps up.
“Expect a solid increase in reserves”
Firefinch managing director Dr Michael Anderson said: “We set out to develop the satellite pits into a solid and confident source of ore to bridge between the tailings treatment operation that we inherited to full production form the Morila Super Pit.
“This investment in drilling has delivered that with now over 200,000 ounces of resource in these two deposits alone and we expect a solid increase in Reserves at these pits to follow.
“We are already delivering ore from Viper as we start to ramp up to full production from Morila.”
Systematic drilling efforts
The substantial increase in resources at both Viper and N’Tiola are a result of systematic drilling efforts at these deposits since Firefinch acquired Morila.
Historical drilling focused on near surface mineralisation and consequently only a portion of these deposits was adequately drill tested.
Results from drilling have led to a re-appraisal of the potential of these mineralised systems.
The Viper MRE has been depleted for mining of 8,000 ounces of gold as at 31st December 2021.
Viper
The updated MRE at Viper is 3.23 million tonnes at 1.15g/t gold for 119,000 ounces of gold, compared to the previous estimate of 1.55 million tonnes at 1.05g/t gold for 52,000 ounces of gold.
This includes 2.47 million tonnes at 1.16 g/t gold for 93,000 ounces of gold in the measured and indicated categories.
The Viper Deposit is around 26 kilometres from Morila, and accessed via a haul road from the plant.
Mining recommenced at Viper in August 2021 and ore from the deposit is planned to make a substantial contribution to the mill feed in 2022 – 2023.
Mineralisation remains open at depth and further drilling to test the extents of mineralisation is planned for 2022.
There has been little systematic testing for repeats of Viper or parallel structures and systematic exploration is planned for coming years.
N’Tiola
The updated MRE at N’Tiola is 2.90 million tonnes at 1.03 g/t gold for 96,000 ounces of gold compared to the previous estimate of 2.43 million tonnes at 1.04 g/t gold for 81,000 ounces of gold.
The mineral resource includes 2.55 million tonnes at 1.03 g/t gold for 84,000 ounces in the measured and indicated categories.
The N’Tiola Deposit is some 25 kilometres from the Morila plant, around f5 kilometres northeast of the Viper Deposit and is accessed via a haul road.
Mining at N’Tiola is planned to recommence in the second half of 2022 with ore from the deposit planned to make a substantial contribution to mill feed in 2022-2023.
Drilling at N’Tiola in 2021 successfully defined near-surface mineralisation at the northern and southern extremes of the deposit.
The near surface mineralisation, especially at the southern end of the deposit, is anticipated to enable bringing forward the planned start of ore mining.
Drilling during 2022 will test for extensions to higher grade zones of mineralisation as well as test parallel zones inferred in geological interpretation.