“West Africa certainly isn’t new and especially Cote d’Ivoire isn’t a new jurisdiction for me, but it’s certainly good to be back in the country.”
That sentiment from Matthew Scully encapsulates why Many Peaks (ASX:MPK) recently brought him on board as Executive Director and COO.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, Scully says what’s excited and attracted the 20-year mining veteran to Many Peaks is the opportunity to be involved in a project that’s evolving very quickly.
That project is the Ferké Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire, where preliminary test results from sulfide-bearing fresh rock indicate gold mineralisation is nonrefractory. Scully says these results provide an initial basis for assessing reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to support mineral resource estimation.
“I think it’s 10 to 12 months, (Ferké’s) gone from discovery through to where we are now planning a Prefeasibility Study (PFS),” the COO tells this news service.
“We’re starting to kick off some metallurgy – a second stage of metallurgy testwork and also an environmental study.
“So it’s all very exciting. It’s happening rapidly and I’m really, really happy to get on board with the story and and the development of this project.”
Scully adds that Many Peaks is restarting drilling after a month hiatus and has managed to drill through the wet season in Côte d’Ivoire with two diamond drill rigs at site. The company has also “substantially bulked up what we believe is going to be a substantial mineral resource”, he adds.
“There’s still a little bit more extensional drilling and some delineation work to do with that, which we’re going to do with an RC rig, which is commencing now,” the COO tells Mining.com.au.
“And we have a diamond rig starting in the next few days. So, we’ll have two rigs busily drilling probably through this coming field season and that should take us into our maiden resource estimate early next year.
“And we’ll also start feeding the various study work that Matt’s going to be kicking off for us including that preliminary MET study work, well second round of MET.”
Scully notes Many Peaks will continue to grow Ferké’s resource with a focus on extension targets and what is required for a starter pit that justifies getting into the PFS work.
Drilling completed by Many Peaks in 2025 has more than tripled the vertical extent of gold mineralisation at Ouarigue. Increasing widths have been identified in several locations and strike extensions intersected to the south and down-dip of previous drilling, outlining a substantial bulk tonnage target repeatedly returning increasing gold grades with depth.
In November, assay results from LeachWell bottle roll leach tests conducted on diamond core samples from the Ouarigue prospect drill target averaged 94% gold recovery.
Preliminary test results from sulfide-bearing fresh rock indicate gold mineralisation at Ferké is nonrefractory. Scully notes the non-refractory nature of the mineralisation suggests Ferké is amenable to cyanide leach processing, a lower-capital cost extraction method suitable for the bulk-tonnage scale target being outlined in recent drilling success.
Further metallurgical work will confirm processing viability and assess associated costs with the extraction method.
Planned work is anticipated to confirm whether similar leach recoveries can be achieved using commercially viable cyanide concentrations under a range of milling and processing conditions not assessed in these preliminary tests.
Studies will include optimisation of grind size, assessment of reagent consumption, and leach tests across varied parameters to define realistic leach times.
The results will support estimates of gold extraction and optimised recovery across different mineralised host rocks, informing future economic modelling.
Ouarigue is situated within a 37km-long corridor of gold anomalism within Ferké. Systematic exploration and drilling is in its early stages and encouraging reconnaissance drill results demonstrate potential for continued growth and merit further exploration drilling.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Many Peaks
