Panthera Resources Plc (LON:PAT), the diversified gold exploration and development company with assets in West Africa and India, has announced that its associated company, Moydow Holdings Limited, has secured all the previous drilling, geological, geochemical and geophysical data on the Labola Project, collected by High River Gold Mines Limited (HRG), later acquired by Nord Gold SE.
The Labola (Wuo Land) gold exploration project is located in the Banfora greenstone belt situated in the southwest of Burkina Faso approximately 370km west-southwest of the capital city Ouagadougou and 100km northeast of the Wahgnion gold mine (Teranga, 2.44Moz gold).
Highlights
· Data obtained include:
– 40,518m drill logs and assay results from some 282 RAB, RC and Diamond drill holes
– 784 rock chip and 3316 soil sample assays
– 495km2 of regional geophysics (magnetic and radiometric) – country scale data
– 260km2 of detailed airborne geophysics (magnetics, radiometric, time-domain EM)
– 25km2 of ground geophysics (gradient array IP)
– 165km2 geological and regolith mapping
– High definition Orthophoto (50km2) and Lidar topographic survey (250km2)
– First pass metallurgical testwork
· The data will greatly assist the programme required to estimate a maiden mineral resource at Labola
· Multiple additional targets are apparent in the geophysical and geochemical data
· Preliminary and limited metallurgical testwork results suggest the material will be amenable to gravity and conventional CIL extraction
The acquisition of the HRG data complements the previous data and core which includes 25,008 metres of RC and Diamond drilling in some 147 drill holes.
We note that the data acquired by Moydow is substantial and it will take some time to process and evaluate. Accordingly, our observations are preliminary with further updates to be provided in due course.
Mark Bolton, Managing Director of Panthera Resources, commented:
“The Labola project is currently Moydow’s most advanced project with some 65,000 metres of historical drilling. Obtaining this additional information will greatly assist the programme required to estimate a maiden mineral resource once data verification has been completed.
Securing the combined drilling, geological, geochemical and geophysical data for the first time, with an estimated replacement value of over US$10 million, is a major step forward to the ultimate development of Labola. The extensive database requires comprehensive interpretation before significant further investment in the field, particularly the many additional targets which may expand the resource potential at Labola.
The preliminary metallurgical testwork results are very encouraging and suggest that the mineralisation is likely to be amenable to gravity and CIL in both the oxide and sulphide circuits with further testwork required to corroborate these results.”
