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West African gold miner Sarama Resources (TSXV: SWA) announced on Tuesday a significant increase in mineral resources for its 100% owned Sanutura project in southwest Burkina Faso.
Sanutura is an advanced-stage exploration project covering approximately 1,500 km² that hosts a well-defined mineral resource base and a suite of exploration targets.
The resource upgrade follows an updated interpretation and re-estimation of mineral resources at the Bondi deposit, located to the north of the project’s main Tankoro deposit.
The Sanutura project now contains total resources of 9.4Mt at 1.9 g/t Au for 0.6Moz gold in the indicated category, plus 52.7Mt at 1.4 g/t Au for 2.3Moz gold inferred. Its resource estimate as of last year was 0.6Moz (indicated) and 1.9Moz (inferred).
The combined oxide and transition component of the mineral resource now totals 0.2Moz (indicated) plus 0.8Moz (inferred), illustrating the ability to provide early plant feed to support a potential staged mine development. The free-milling component also increased to 0.2Moz (indicated) plus 1.1Moz (inferred), the company said.
“The inclusion of the Bondi deposit to the project’s mineral resource base provides a significant increase in high-grade, free-milling material and has the potential to materially improve start-up economics for the project,” Sarama CEO Andrew Dinning said in a news release.
“Our next key step will be to pursue the compelling exploration targets we have identified across the project. These targets, when combined with the current mineral resources, give us an exploration target in excess of 3-3.5 million ounces of gold.”
According to Sarama, re-interpretation and improved modelling of the Bondi deposit has identified several higher-grade shoots within the mineral resource and will greatly assist in exploration targeting.
This, combined with compelling regional targets at the Zanawa and Malbus prospects, is expected to deliver further increases to the mineral resource base, the company said.
“The project is being positioned as a long-life, multi-stage asset that can be built and paid for well before we have exploited the oxide resource, and one which provides significant optionality and leverage to the gold price and remains key to the development of the southern Houndé Belt,” Dinning added.
Shares of Sarama Resources jumped 8.3% by 12:45 p.m. in Toronto in reaction to the resource update. The gold junior has a market capitalization of C$19.4 million ($15.1m).
