Altus Strategies plc has been granted a small-scale gold mining licence at its 100% owned 83.1km2 Korali Sud licence, containing the Diba gold project, in western Mali.
DIBA
The project hosts the Diba deposit and the Diba NW and Diba Far East prospects, and lies 5km west of the company’s 100% owned 24km2 Lakanfla gold exploration licence.
LICENCE
The mining licence is for an initial four years and is renewable until the deposit is depleted.
The licence, which is transferable to third parties with approval from the Mali authorities, covers the entire 83.1 km2 extent of the former Diba exploration licence.
Altus said that it retained the option to apply for a full-scale mining licence at a later date, subject to the delineation of a larger mineral resource estimate (MRE).
In the next three months, Bristol-based Mining Plus UK Ltd is due to publish its revised MRE and preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Diba & Lakanfla project.
ENDORSEMENT
“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,” said chief executive Steven Poulton.
“With the expiry of the current exploration licence, the mining licence provides the company with long-term security of tenure for the project.”