AMN - COTE D’IVOIRE: High-grade gold in maiden drilling

First assay results from the Mako Gold Limited’s maiden reverse circulation drilling program at the Napié Project in Côte d’Ivoire have returned high-grade gold. The first 20 RC holes have tested five of the nine high-priority targets at Napié.

Mako is earning up to a 75% interest in the project under a farm-in and joint venture agreement with Occidental Gold SARL, a subsidiary of West African gold miner Perseus Mining Limited.

Mako geologists previously identified nine high-priority targets within the project for drill testing based on multiple coincident anomalies, including soil geochemistry, historic RAB drilling and artisanal workings.

The drilling program in progress was designed to test all nine targets - A, C, D, E, F, G, I, J and K.

Significant gold mineralisation was intersected from drill holes within Targets E and F, referred to as the Tchaga prospect.

Individual assays returned values up to 51 g/t gold. Significant widths of up to 26 metres, were intersected in several drill holes.

Best intersections from these targets include 10 metres at 1.54 g/t gold from 10 metres, including 1 metre at 5.36 g/t; and 8 metres at 8.53 g/t from 31 metres, including 2 metres at 30.17 g/t.

Other results include 1 metre at 13.10 g/t with visible gold observed from 17 metres; 5 metres at 2.72 g/t from 42 metres and 5 metres at 1.19 g/t from 52 metres; 26 metres at 3.85 g/t from 52 metres, including 4 metres at 8.28 g/t from 52 metres and 1 metre at 20.1 g/t from 67 metres; and 12 metres at 0.89 g/t from surface and 18 metres at 1.01 g/t from 16 metres.

The maiden drilling program at Napié has largely focused on testing the anomalous historical RAB holes at depth. Mineralisation in the RAB drill holes tends to be dispersed over wide areas within the oxide zone and is rarely associated with the surface soil geochemical anomalies.

The best results obtained thus far from Mako’s maiden drilling program were in holes drilled below the soil anomalies greater than 200 ppb gold.

Assay results have also been received from first pass drilling at Targets A, C and D, which were designed to follow-up historic RAB gold intersections as well as to test below artisanal workings.

Lower grade gold was encountered at Targets A and D, the best intersection being 3 metres at 0.94 g/t at Target A. Assay results are pending from the DD holes drilled under significant artisanal workings at Targets D and C respectively.

Upon completion of the drilling at Target G, Mako will begin follow-up drilling of the high-grade gold intersections at the Tchaga prospect. This will consist of RC and DD drilling.

Mako’s managing director Peter Ledwidge said: “We are extremely pleased with the initial results from the maiden drilling program at the Napié project, especially since the results received to date are from less than one-third of the planned drilling program and are from broadly spaced drill holes along the 23km long gold geochemical anomaly.

"The high-grade assays over significant widths increase our confidence in the potential of the Napié project to host an economic gold deposit.”

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