Altus Strategies plc announced it had confirmed a karst-style system and low-grade gold following 3,8000m reverse drilling and associated passive seismic surveys at its Lakanfla gold project in western Mali.
The mining and royalty company said that results showed a karst-style system along a 6km margin of granite intrusion, and that drilling had intersected widespread low-grade gold mineralisation and unconsolidated karst material.
Altus added that the granite margin target zone had yet to be intersected while a soil geochemistry programme across the Lakanfla licence has defined several new potential drill targets.
Historic drilling into granite at Lakanfla has intersected 44m at 1.3 g/t Au and 72m at 1.0 g/t Au.
Exploration at Lakanfla is being funded by the company’s joint venture partner Marvel Gold Ltd which has earned a 33% interest in the project and has started stage 2 of the JV to earn an aggregate 51% of the project
Altus holds a 2.5% net smelter return (NSR) gold production royalty on Lakanfla.
The passive seismic surveys used during Stage 1 of exploration will help create a three-dimensional structural interpretation to guide follow-up drilling to target ‘shoulders’ of the central granodiorite body, which might host a supergene blanket of enriched gold mineralisation.
Stage 2 of exploration at Lakanfla will focus on refining the karst model and associated targeting of gold mineralisation; delineation and development of existing gold mineralisation; and systematic exploration across the project outside of the karst target and granite intrusion.
The company will also develop a programme, involving diamond drilling, to convert the known mineralisation within the granite intrusion to a JORC Code resource.
Altus said that Lakanfla had “significant inherent value” from existing near-surface gold mineralisation already defined by historical drilling and significant hard rock artisanal gold workings within and around the central granodiorite intrusion.
Chief executive Steven Poulton added that while a potential supergene enriched blanket had not yet been intersected, Stage 1 results were encouraging and provided a valuable framework for future drill targeting around the combined 6km long margin of the granite intrusion.
“Soil geochemistry completed in tandem with the drilling programme has defined a number of highly encouraging targets, with peak values of 39.1 g/t Au and 4.2 g/t Au in soils.
“The first of these samples were located in a new area in the north of the Lakanfla licence, approximately 4km from the former (karst-style) open pits of the Sadiola gold mine. These targets do not appear to have any associated artisanal workings and as such represent new targets.”