Altus Strategies PLC (AIM:ALS, TSX-V:ALTS, OTCQX:ALTUF) was granted a small-scale gold mining licence by the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water of the Republic of Mali in respect of the 83.1 square kilometre Korali Sud licence in the west of the country.
Korali Sud contains the Diba gold project, which hosts the Diba deposit, Diba NW and Diba Far East prospects and is located approximately five kilometres west of the company's 100% owned 24 square kilometre Lakanfla gold exploration licence.
Altus has commissioned independent consulting firm Mining Plus UK Ltd to update the resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment for the combined Diba and Lakanfla project.
The current resource comprises 217,000 ounces in the indicated category and 187,000 ounces inferred.
"We are delighted to have been granted a Mining Licence at our Diba gold project in western Mali,” said Altus chief executive Steven Poulton.
“This endorses our royalty generation strategy of adding value to our project portfolio through de-risking and technical validation before transacting with third party developers. With the expiry of the current exploration licence, the mining licence provides the company with long-term security of tenure for the project.”