Mako Gold Ltd (ASX:MKG) has started a 25,000-metre auger drilling program at the flagship Napié Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire aimed at pinning down large soil anomalies at what could be a district-scale multi-million-ounce project.
Napié hosts a more than 23 kilometres soil anomaly and coincident 30-kilometre-long Napié shear and associated splays, according to historical data.
The aim of the multi-rig auger program is to find footprints of other deposits similar to the Tchaga or Gogbala deposits, where an 868,000-ounce inferred maiden mineral resource estimate was delivered in June this year.
This program will also include orientation auger drilling on Tchaga or Gogbala to identify their auger footprints.
Napié Project with planned auger grids (red polygons) and planned orientation auger grids over Tchaga and Gogbala (black polygons)
Useful tool
“We are pleased exploration has recommenced on the Napié Project after a particularly long wet season,” Mako’s managing director Peter Ledwidge said.
“The large multi-rig auger drilling program will provide a very useful tool to narrow down the large soil anomalies at Napié for further resource drilling and should help to unlock the district-scale multi-million-ounce potential of the Napié Project.
“At certain locations, the soil anomalies are up to 2 kilometres wide and augering is more cost-effective when compared with a fence of RC drill holes across such widths,” he added.
Fast-track drilling
Mako Gold plans to use five Landcruiser-mounted auger rigs to fast-track the drilling program so that samples can be shipped to the lab as soon as work is completed on each grid.
This will allow for a much faster planning for follow-up reverse circulation (RC) drilling on the best auger anomalies.
The first phase of the program will involve 400-metre spaced lines with samples collected at every 100 metres along the line.
The second infill phase will consist of 200-metre spaced lines with samples collected every 50 metres from prospective areas identified in the first phase.
Mako geologists are on the ground mapping and rock-chip sampling the greenstone and granite contacts at Napié and Korhogo for gold as well as for critical minerals.