Tietto Minerals Ltd (ASX:TIE) has tabled its pioneer measured gold resource for Abujar project in Côte D’Ivoire, West Africa.
The gold hub is reported to hold 7.7 million tonnes of ore, grading at 1.4 g/t for 350,000 ounces in the highest confidence measured category.
Tietto says the resource de-risks the first two years of gold production and is based on infill drilling at the AG Core target, where rigs turned the soil to around 11 metres deep.
Within the definitive feasibility study (DFS) pit at AG Core, combined measured and indicated resources now account for 95% of mineral resources, with just 5% remaining in the inferred category.
There are no signs of slowing down at the West African gold play: further resource and reserve updates, diamond drilling and first gold are expected before year’s end.
“An incredible tick of confidence”
Speaking to the update at Abujar, Tietto managing director Dr Caigen Wang said: “We have delineated a measured resource of 350,000 ounces at shallow depth within the AG Core DFS pit for the initial two years of gold production.
“This significantly de-risks Abujar and our mine planning team expects to declare proven ore reserves for the project this quarter.
“Measured resources provide an incredible tick of confidence for our Abujar gold project.”
Abujar by the numbers
Thanks to the update, Abujar’s overarching gold resources now stand at 97.8 million tonnes at 1.1 g/t for 3.45 million ounces — a 3% uptick on previous ounce estimates.
At the DFS AG Core pit, the resource model has been updated to 16.3 million tonnes at 2.04 g/t for 1.1 million ounces.
Dr Wang says these are robust estimates with conservative high-grade cuts and search restrictions applied to manage the influence of the exceptionally high gold grades present at Abujar.
“In an extreme case where diamond drilling intersected 1.1 metres at 2,853 g/t gold, the highest grade of 125 g/t for the AG deposit represents only 4.4% of this intersection grade,” he explained.
What’s next?
Tietto intends to refresh Abujar’s life of mine production plan using a number of influences, including the updated mineral resource, increased mill throughput and higher gold prices.
“Throughput optimisation work during the design stage has lifted the Abujar mill throughput by upwards of 15.5% to 4.5 million tonnes of fresh ore per annum, over the 4 million tonnes per annum used in the DFS,” Dr Wang noted.
The Abujar project is expected to deliver its first gold in the final quarter of this year.
Golden opportunity
Tietto continues to pursue its gold development opportunities amid a favourable market.
For example, spot gold prices are currently 35% greater than the US$1,407/ounce target that Tietto used for its DFS.
“We expect this will materially increase both the open pit ore reserve and life of mine inventory,” Dr Wang explained.
Commenting on future plans, the MD thanked the company’s exploration team and mine consultancy RPM Global for their work to date.
“Tietto has an experienced team on board to deliver Abujar on time and on budget. We are on track to deliver another mineral resource update and first gold at Abujar later this year,” he noted.
“Shareholders can expect further updates from our aggressive diamond drilling program as we advance our dual strategy of ‘drill and build’,” Dr Wang concluded.