Akobo Minerals releases preliminary Segele mine results

Specifically, the results, from laboratory testing, inspection, certification and verification solutions company, ALS (Ireland), show:

• New resource extension significant intercepts:
  • 24.4 g/t gold (Au) over 5.88 m (including 142 g/t Au over 0.7 m, and 44.8 g/t Au over 0.7 m).
  • 17.8 g/t Au over 4.38 m (including 67 g/t Au over 0.7 m).
• New infill drilling results including:
  • 56 g/t Au over 6 m.
  • 23 g/t Au over 1.7 m.
• In July 2021, the company also released results including 45.3 g/t Au over 0.48 m and 13.8 g/t Au over 1.43 m.
• The mineralisation is still open at depth.

Explaining gold grade

For underground mining, the World Gold Council defines high quality results as between 8 – 10 g/t, and low quality as between 1 – 4 g/t. There is no exact definition of what is considered as high or low grade. The list below is therefore an estimate as to what may be expected.

Underground mine

• Low grade 0 – 5 g/t Au.
• Average grade 5 – 8 g/t Au.
• High grade 8+ g/t Au.
• 'Bonanza' grade 31.1 g/t Au.

Results from an additional 30 holes (approximately 2000 samples) are expected to be delivered within 10 days and will include all samples needed to perform an updated resource estimate. There have been major delays at the ALS laboratory in Ireland lately, affecting the delivery of results and Akobo Minerals’ ability to issue a full resource update. Once the outstanding results are received, the data will be handed to SRK (Australasia) to complete the mineral resource update.

Akobo Minerals released the result of its first Segele mineral resource estimate in April 2021, with an inferred mineral resource totalling 52 410oz at an average grade of 20.9 g/t Au. That resource estimate covered a gold mineralisation in a narrow high-grade shoot from 30 m at the shallowest to 130 m at the deepest. These new assays have demonstrated that the high-grade gold mineralisation extends to at least 240 m below the surface – and quite possibly deeper.

Jørgen Evjen, CEO of Akobo Minerals, said: “We eagerly anticipate the full results of the mineral resource estimate from geology and resource specialist, SRK, which will be undertaken as soon all results are in from ALS. The engineering design within our scoping study shows that the Segele mine should be a high-margins operation, with an all-in production cost of around US$250/oz. We anticipate limited mining production to begin at the end of 2022, with production peaking in mid-2023.”

He concluded: “These new results support our belief that we can maintain peak production for longer than calculated in our original scoping study. We eagerly await the new estimate.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/17022022/akobo-minerals-releases-preliminary-segele-mine-results/