Gold explorer and developer Tietto Minerals Limited (ASX: TIE) has added more exceptionally high‐grade gold intersections of 3m @ 58.61 g/t Au from 64m incl. 1m @ 174.72 g/t Au from Abujar‐Gludehi (AG) South, part of Abujar Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.
The company said that the results extended previously reported high‐grade gold strike of 200m at AG South Section Lines 4‐5‐6 to Section Line 9.
TIE also reported multiple high‐grade gold drill results at its 3.02Moz Abujar Gold Project including 15m @ 2.34 g/t Au from 558m incl. 6m @ 3.36 g/t Au; and 27m @ 1.14 g/t Au from 347m incl. 3m @ 4.10 g/t Au.
The company said that the Abujar Mineral Resource update is now due by end of the June quarter. TIE said that it expects the recent drilling to underpin a material upgrade to Abujar Ore Reserves.
Tietto said that it is rapidly advancing Abujar with the June quarter work program to include front end engineering and design (FEED), and commencement of site and camp construction.
Drilling at AG South
The company had recently commenced an infill and extensional drilling program at AG deposit. TIE said that 128 holes for 31,480m were drilled at AG deposit; 59 holes at AG South (sections 0‐14) and 69 holes at the AG Core (sections 15‐29).
The company had previously reported high‐grade gold strike of 200m at AG South Section Lines 4‐5‐6. Results from Section Line 4B included 3m @ 52.95 g/t Au from 71m incl. 1m @ 121.00 g/t Au (ZDD483); Section Line 5B included 4m @ 26.05 g/t Au from 63m incl. 1m @ 50.75 g/t Au (ZDD536); Section Line 6 included 5m @ 109.06 g/t Au from 99m incl. 1m @ 532.05 g/t Au (ZDD542) and Section Line 6B included 7m @ 51.56 g/t Au from 53m including 1m @ 21.15 g/t Au from 53m, 1m @ 152.70 g/t Au from 56m, and 1m @ 180.86 g/t Au from 57m (ZDD491).
The infill holes were designed to increase confidence in current mineral resource estimates at Abujar. Current Abujar Ore Reserves stand at 15.7Mt @ 1.7g/t Au for 0.86Moz (maiden open pit) within 22.9Mt @ 1.5g/t Au for 1.12Moz Mining Inventory.
High-grade drill results
TIE has now reported encouraging results from one hole from AG South and 23 holes from drilling at AG Core.
AG South
Important hits from the DD hole ZDD539 at AG South on Section Line 9 included 3m @ 58.61 g/t Au from 64m incl. 1m @ 174.72 g/t Au. The company said that this extends previously reported high‐grade gold strike of 200m at AG South Section Lines 4‐5‐6 to Section Line 9.
AG Core
Standout intercepts from the 23 holes at AG Core included 15m @ 2.34 g/t Au from 558m incl. 6m @ 3.36 g/t Au (ZDD462); 3m @ 10.85 g/t Au from 144m (ZDD441); and 27m @ 1.14 g/t Au from 347m incl. 3m @ 4.10 g/t Au (ZDD492).
All significant intersections from the latest batch of assays received for 1m diamond drill samples are as shown below.
The company said that results from these holes will be included in the resource model update, expected to be delivered by the end of the current quarter. Tietto said that it expects recent drilling will underpin a material upgrade to Abujar Ore Reserves and open‐pitable Inferred Resources identified at APG (8.1Mt @ 0.8g/t Au for 0.2Moz) within the Expanded Project study.
The company said that these results will add grade, increase confidence, and extend limits of gold mineralisation.
Updates and next steps
Tietto said that it remains very well positioned to advance its dual strategy in 2021, which is to continue to drive rapid resource growth at the 3.02Moz Abujar Gold Project; and fast‐track development of the Abujar Gold Project.
The company said that it has now extended its infill diamond drilling program cut‐off date to 24 May 2021 to include more results; Abujar Mineral Resource update now due by end of June quarter.
TIE said that strong news flow is expected to continue with more than 7,000 Abujar samples at the laboratory. Tietto said that its fleet of six diamond rigs is drilling ~11,000m a month in 2021 to drive Abujar’s rapid resource growth at low discovery cost per ounce.
Tietto announced that it is rapidly advancing Abujar with the June quarter work program to include front end engineering and design (FEED), and commencement of site and camp construction. The company said that it is well‐funded to drive Abujar development, with ~$52M cash at the bank at end of March 2021.
“Results from the infill program will be used in the resource update which is expected late in June”
Management comments
Tietto Managing Director Caigen Wang said: “Our infill and extensional drilling program at AG has delivered across a range of metrics; more high gold grades, increased resource confidence and resource growth.
We have delivered more high‐grades with ZDD539 hitting 1m @ 174.72 g/t Au adding to the string of high gold grades we have reported at AG South including a project best intercept of just over 1m at 0.53 kg/t gold which was delivered last week.
Results from the infill program will be used in the resource update which is expected late in June. This model will be handed over to the mining engineers for open pit optimization studies and we expect to see a material increase in Abujar Ore Reserves in the DFS.
Once the infill program is completed, we intend to use our diamond drill rigs to test the multitude of exploration targets around our proposed mill at Abujar to drive future resource growth.
On the development front, our recent initiatives and work program demonstrate our progress towards delivery of our fully funded Abujar DFS in Q3 2021 and more broadly, positioning Abujar as West Africa’s next gold mine.”
Image Source: Tietto Minerals Limited