Mako Gold Ltd (ASX:MKG) has recently kicked off a diamond drilling program at its flagship Napié Project in Côte d'Ivoire following promising results from the previous reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling efforts.
Multi-million-ounce camp
The diamond drill program aims to target high-grade gold below the RC/diamond drilling intersections, with the goal of expanding the current 868,000-ounce maiden resource into a potentially multi-million-ounce camp.
The primary objective of the program is to explore high-grade gold zones to a vertical depth of around 120 metres. This phase will consist of eight holes, totalling 800 metres, focusing on three of 15 high-priority auger targets identified in a recent 25,000-metre auger drilling program.
Mako managing director Peter Ledwidge said: “We are very happy to be commencing our diamond drilling program so soon after the receipt of our results from our recent RC drilling program which discovered high-grade gold on several new prospect areas on 400-metre spaced drill fences.
“The majority of the diamond drill holes will be diamond tails to extend RC holes, targeting high-grade gold at depth. Many of the positive intercepts returned from our recent RC drilling program were at very shallow depths, and drilling underneath these intercepts has the potential to encounter high-grade gold.
Methodical approach
“We believe our methodical approach of auger drilling, wide-spaced RC drilling, followed up by diamond drilling, will allow us to prioritise new prospective areas quickly with the goal of growing our current 868,000-ounce maiden resource into a multi-million-ounce camp at the Napié Project. The current diamond drilling program is an important step in achieving this goal.”
The program aims to extend high-grade gold zones on section and provide valuable structural information to refine targeting for future drilling along the strike of the previous 400-metre-spaced RC drill fences. The targeted areas for diamond drilling are Gogbala South, Tchaga North and Tchaga West.
The Gogbala South target is strategically situated along the 30-kilometre-long Napié Shear, which also hosts the Tchaga and Gogbala deposits forming the maiden resource of 868,000 ounces of gold.
Diamond drilling at Gogbala South will specifically target high-grade gold below recent impressive intercepts of 6 metres at 6 grams per ton (g/t) gold, including 1 metre at 16.78 g/t gold and 1 metre at 15.20 g/t gold in NARC778.
The program aims to test high-grade gold potential below the 9 metres at 1.39 g/t gold in NARC776, with the belief that width and grade often increase at depth.
What’s next?
The diamond drilling program is expected to take around four weeks and assay results are anticipated in the following weeks. Looking ahead, the company plans to conduct future RC drilling to close the 400-metre gap between fences as part of its efforts to expand the current resource at Napié.
Additionally, Mako Gold sees the potential to identify further resource drill targets through the analysis of current auger gold anomalies and future expansion of the auger drilling grids at Napié.
Meanwhile, at the Korhogo Project, the company is awaiting sample results from the recent RC drilling at the Korhogo manganese discovery, which are expected to be available in the coming weeks.