Aurum Resources has jagged more high-grade gold with hits of up to 8 metres grading 8.23 grams per tonne (g/t) outside the current known resource boundary at the company’s Boundiali gold project in Côte d'Ivoire.
The results from 3079 metres of diamond drilling across 12 holes at Target 3 on the northern end of Aurum’s BM tenement have extended the prospect's known mineralised zone by 380m.
Drilling has now unlocked a solid 1900m of gold mineralisation along strike - blasting beyond the 950m at Target 3 already accounted for in an existing 1.59-million-ounce global resource at Boundiali.
Other standout results from the drill program include 13m grading 5.17g/t gold from 65m. This intercept also hosts the uber-high hit of 8m at 8.23 g/t.
Another deeper hole, 200m further south, came in at 29m grading 1.63g/t gold from 175m, while a third hole, 800m further south, jagged 4m at 9.56g/t gold from 130m, including a 3m section running at 12.65g/t gold.
Hosted in an iron-rich mafic formation, the well-endowed region stretches another 10 kilometres south of the latest drill hole and is still waiting to be put to the test.
Aurum is also about to kick off an exploration program at its Napié gold project, 40km further to the east of Boundiali. Aurum recently acquired Napié after its successful takeover of fellow ASX-listed gold explorer Mako Gold in a 1 for 25 all scrip deal.
Napié hosts an 870,000-gold ounce resource that Aurum will shortly test with a 30,000m drilling program to expand the resource using two shiny new diamond rigs brought in to service the project. An updated resource estimate is anticipated later this year.
Aurum Resources managing director Dr Caigen Wang said: With a combined 2.5 million ounces of gold across Boundiali and Napié, and substantial drilling programs planned for both projects, Aurum is well-positioned for significant resource growth and further value creation in 2025.”
The latest findings are part of this year’s massive 100,000m diamond drilling program underway at Boundiali, of which 40,000m is designed to chase resource growth at the company’s BD, BM and BST tenements.
A further 30,000m will be used to sniff out underexplored prospects and a final 30,000m will target promising gold-in-soil anomalies and geological targets.
The results of these efforts will feed into two planned resource updates, the first expected mid-year and the second by year’s end.
The eye-popping scale of the drilling program comes down to a single smart move by Aurum, which had the foresight to buy six diamond drill rigs early when it acquired Boundiali.
The strategic move gives the company full control over its drilling schedule and keeps its cost per metre at the sharp end of the price curve.
With a 1.59m-ounce maiden resource already in the bag and the promise of a further uplift in the next little while, Aurum is pushing full steam ahead with a prefeasibility study on Boundiali, expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
The sheer speed of development at site is impressive given Aurum picked up the leases and put boots on the ground only 14 months ago.
Aurum enters 2025 in rare financial health, with $23 million in cash in the bank at the end of the December quarter, which is plenty to fund its exploration and development plans.
As gold prices continue their seemingly unstoppable rise, currently trading at US$2935 (A$4600) per ounce, it looks like Aurum is determined to make hay while the sun shines in a year that could see the company emerge as one of West Africa’s next major gold-producing miners.
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By James Pearson
