Aurum Resources (ASX:AUE) has confirmed gold mineralisation outside the current resource estimate boundaries for the BMT3 prospect from an ongoing 100,000m drilling campaign at the Boundiali Gold Project in northern Côte d’Ivoire.
These findings support further resource growth potential.
The company has received assay results from 36 diamond drillholes covering 9,452m. The holes comprised a mix of infill, step-out, and extensional drilling across the BMT3, BMT2, and BMT1 deposits.
Aurum conducted 19 holes for 5,845.85m at BMT3, six holes for 1,209.3m at BMT2, and 11 holes for 2,396.85m at BMT1. These deposits are located on the northern half of the BM tenement, in which Aurum holds an 80% stake.
Key drill intercepts include 1.76m @ 150.87 grams per tonne gold (Au) from 485.94m, including 0.72m @ 367.05g/t Au; 15.5m @ 3.88g/t Au from 179m, including 9.5m @ 6.04g/t Au; and 10m @ 3.46g/t Au from 280m, including 8m @ 4.24g/t Au.
These intercepts were all returned from the BMT3 deposit, which hosts a mineral resource estimate of 18.6 million tonnes (Mt) @ 1.3g/t Au for 750,000 ounces.
The company also retrieved 15m @ 1.05g/t Au from 122m, including 1m @ 10.29g/t Au, as well as 6m @ 1.79g/t Au from 48m, including 1.9m @ 4.8g/t Au from the BMT2 deposit. The BMT2 deposit currently has no resources defined.
From the BMT1 deposit, which has a resource of 8.8Mt @ 1.1g/t Au for 320,000 ounces, Aurum returned key intercepts of 6.8m @ 28.76g/t Au from 120.2m, including 2.8m @ 69.53g/t Au, as well as 2.41m @ 14.38g/t Au from 123m.
Aurum has planned a total of 130,000m of drilling for 2026, with 16 diamond rigs operating across the Boundiali and Napié projects.
The company expects to return a mineral resource estimate update for the Boundiali Project at the end of Q3, along with a Definitive Feasibility Study later this year.
Managing Director Caigen Wang says the latest results continue to “build the case for further resource growth at Boundiali”.
“At BMT3, new holes extend high-grade mineralisation at depth, adding to the strong grades already returned along its 2.3km strike,” Wang says.
“To date, the resource at BMT1, which extends over 2.5km of strike, is limited by historic drilling that is too widely spaced to support an inferred classification — new infill drilling is now targeting those areas to bring them into the resource, and we expect it to grow.
“At BMT2, which sits outside the current mineral resource for the same reason, today’s results support further growth potential, although more drilling is required before it can be classified.
“We’ve now tested over 1km of strike at BMT2, including parallel mineralised structures, with several assays still pending. Combined with earlier results to the north indicating potential over roughly 1.2km, we see scope to extend BMT2’s mineralised trend beyond 2km with continued drilling success.”
Aurum Resources has a combined gold resource of 4.4 million ounces across its 3.22 million ounce Boundiali Gold Project and 1.16 million ounce Napié Gold Project, both in Côte d’Ivoire.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Aurum Resources
