Vital drill results from Doulnia
THE DRILL SERGEANT: West African gold explorer and Queensland tungsten developer Vital Metals, along with its Farm in partner Ampella Mining, has provided the market with an update on exploration progress at the Doulnia Gold Project in Burkina Faso.
The farmers last updated the market in March, reporting reported drill results from 66 holes in the Phase 2, 12,000 metre drilling program, which is currently underway.
Since then an additional 30 holes have been drilled from which assay results from four-meter composites have now been received.
Vital Metals chairman David Macoboy said the latest results continue to confirm the Doulnia project’s gold prospectivity.
“We are committed to progressing exploration activities at the Doulnia project,” Macoboy said in an announcement.
“Each batch of results adds to our understanding of the local geology, and increases our confidence in the prospectivity of the Project.”
Significant intervals received from latest assay results include:
– 4m at 8.16 grams per tonne gold from 68m, and
– 5m at 6.34 g/t gold from 80m.
Vital said the phase 2 round of drilling is nearing the halfway stage of the program. This has enabled the company to test the Kollo prospect on a more regional scale, leading to an increased geological understanding of the area.
“Our geologists have identified that gold mineralisation at Kollo is largely hosted within quartz feldspar porphyry, and we are currently reviewing all assay results, geology logging and field mapping with the aim of refining the exploration model for the remaining drilling,” Macoboy continued.
“That will focus on the most prospective soil anomalies that are associated with felsic litho types.
“Vital’s confidence in the gold prospectivity of the Kollo prospect is further supported by a significant increase in artisanal mining in the immediate vicinity of the prospect.
“While artisanal mining does pose some management challenges in the field, it provides first hand evidence on the prospectivity of the area.”
Vital also indicated it is on track to meet the first farm-in milestone, spending of $1.5 million to secure a 60% interest in the Doulnia gold project Joint Venture with Ampella.
This milestone is expected to be achieved in the current quarter. Vital then has the option to earn a 70% interest in the Joint Venture through spending $3.5M.
Sole funding of a Project Bankable Feasibility Study will earn Vital an 80% interest in the project.
Vital has secured the services of a second RC Rig, which will be on-site in June.
The company said this rig will provide it with significant operational upgrade for it to carry out its field programs.
There is a still a number of priority drill targets identified from the soil-sampling program that remain un-drilled.
The second RC Rig will allow testing of all of these targets and provide the necessary infrastructure to drill through the wet season.