AKORA Resources Ltd thinks it has hit ‘significant iron mineralisation’ following its fourth drilling campaign at the Bekisopa Iron Ore Project in Madagascar.
The campaign covered 904.9 metres across 65 drill holes, and the company says iron mineralisation was particularly strong in the project's northern and central zones.
The drilling took place on a 50-metre-by-50-metre grid and averaged an intercept of 18 metres along a 6-kilometre strike in the northern zone, and 9.2 metres in the central tenement.
Samples at the lab
Nine additional shallow drill holes were drilled in the southern zone to test possible mineralisation extensions.
All iron ore mineralisation samples have been delivered to the OMNIS Laboratory in Antananarivo for assay pulp preparation, which will subsequently be sent to ALS Perth in October and November.
The campaign sets the stage for a scoping study to be released by the end of October.
Managing director and CEO Paul Bibby said: “We have defined a 194.7 million tonne (Mt) resource which when upgraded can produce a concentrate grade of over 67% Fe at Besikopa, which is a premium grade product in increasing demand in a decarbonising world.
“Our ongoing priority over recent drill campaigns has been to better define the DSO tonnage and grade, within that resource, to aid production planning.
“Bekisopa’s scoping study is due at the end of October and will define viable pathways to developing a low-cost DSO start-up operation to generate early cash flows.”
Scoping study will define cost scenarios
The forthcoming scoping study is expected to offer insights into the viability of a low-cost DSO start-up operation, incorporating two capital and operating cost scenarios for the DSO project.
Assay results are expected in late January 2024, followed by an updated mineral resource estimate in the first quarter of 2024.
Read more about AKORA’s recent activities here and here.