Tietto Minerals Ltd (ASX:TIE) has reported 55.13 g/t gold in one intersection, part of a swag of high-grade results just in from ongoing infill drilling at AG South within the company’s 3.45-million-ounce Abujar Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.
The gold stock is targeting conversion of indicated resources to measured resources within the first two years of gold production at the project, and to this end, it has six diamond drill rigs on-site and has ambitions to drill more than 100,000 metres in 2022.
High-grade gold results
A second batch of assay results have now been received – 54 diamond drill holes for 9,265 metres –and they indicate:
- 4 metres at 14.49 g/t gold from 43 metres, including 1 metre at 55.13 g/t
- 2 metres at 27.65 g/t from 86 metres, including 1 metre at 46.09 g/t
- 3 metres at 10.93 g/t from 61 metres, including 1 metre at 32.03 g/t
- 2 metres at 11.06 g/t from 155 metres, including 1 metre at 21.57 g/t
Managing director Dr Caigen Wang said: “I am very pleased to see further high‐grade intercepts from the second batch of assay results for infill drilling at AG South, where we are targeting the conversion of indicated resources to measured resources in areas that are likely to be mined within the first two years of gold production.
“Our diamond drilling teams are achieving very high drilling rates due to the shallower hole depths required for infill drilling. This has allowed us to expand the program as we target a contiguous zone of measured resources between section lines 0 to 29 (AG South and AG Core) and within the first two years of production.
“At current rates, we now expect this drilling phase to be completed by mid-June 2022.”
“Fully funded to production”
Wang continued: “We are fully funded to production at Abujar, which has the potential to be one of the largest gold-producing mines in Cote d’Ivoire, with an expected production of more than 260,000 ounces of gold in the first year and 1.2 million ounces of gold in the first six years.
“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.
“Shareholders can expect further updates from our aggressive diamond drilling program as we advance our dual strategy of ‘drill and build’ and develop our Abujar Gold Project into West Africa’s next gold mine with first gold by the end of quarter four, 2022.”
Robust financials
The company completed a A$130 million two-tranche placement to accelerate the development of the project, with no debt. Tietto says the placement has allowed the participation of like‐minded investors, keen for the company to realise first gold production by quarter four of 2022 and produce 260,000 ounces of gold in 2023.
The project’s definitive feasibility study demonstrated robust financials and estimated first-year gold production of 260,000 ounces and 1.2 million ounces over the first six years of the mine’s 11-year life for an NPV5% of $1.3 billion pre-tax using a gold price of US$1,700 per ounce and an Australian dollar value of 74.1 US cents.
The Abujar gold plant construction proceeds apace, and is on target for first gold in the final quarter of this calendar year.
The company says that construction at the project is fully funded, with no debt.