Hummingbird Resources plc said it was encouraged by results from diamond core drilling at the Bukon Jedeh ‘gold camp’, part of the Dugbe gold project in southern Liberia.
LITHOLOGY
Situated 8km southeast of the Tuzon deposit, Bukon Jedeh lies along a 4.1km trend known for its “highly productive artisanal gold mining operations”.
The company, which owns 53% of operator Pasofino Gold Ltd, added that the drill programme targeted various sites including key existing mining pits, historic drilling intersections, and new holes.
Operations followed up the “most promising” intervals, identified by the “relative abundance” of sulphide minerals.
Several of the holes contained multi-metre wide intervals of pyroxene gneiss with sulphide minerals, a similar lithology hosted at the nearby Tuzon and Dugbe F deposits.
Hummingbird said an apparent trend east of the area of a 1.5km long east-west zone, referred to as the SPMC-99 Steps trend, potentially linked two of the most important pits in the area, never before drilled.
Sampling is currently 50% complete, with the first batch expected to be sent for assays in early June and results expected during July.
Previous reverse circulation drilling, in 2012 and 2013, yielded “promising” results including “notable high-grade” gold intervals.
In August 2022, Pasofino conducted a site visit, collecting rock samples which graded as high as up 31 grams per tonne of gold.
The 2022 definitive feasibility study showed that Dugbe has total resources of 4.01Moz gold and total reserves of 2.76 Moz, which Hummingbird and Pasofino aim to increase.
“As the exploration efforts at the Dugbe gold project continue, we are encouraged by the progress made at Bukon Jedeh,” added chief executive Dan Betts.
“The broad intervals of sulphide mineralisation encountered in our drilling programme represent a significant step forward in understanding the potential scale of the deposit.”