Altus Strategies Plc (AIM:ALS / TSX:ALTS), has appointed independent consulting firm Mining Plus UK Ltd to update the historic resource and complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for an open pit oxide gold mine at the company’s Diba project in Mali
Diba is strategically located 13km south of the multi-million ounce Sadiola gold mine, in the world renowned ‘Kenieba Window’ gold belt in the western part of Mali.
“The Diba gold project hosts a near surface and shallow dipping historic resource in western Mali, approximately 13km south of the multi-million ounce Sadiola gold mine and 5km west of the company’s Lakanfla gold project, which is the subject of a joint venture with Glomin Servicesm,” Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus, said.
“Mining Plus will update the historic resource into a current resource and incorporate drill results that post-date the original resource estimate, including 5.36 g/t over 13m and 9.60 g/t over 8m.
“They will then undertake a Preliminary Economic Assessment to outline the potential for a standalone open pit oxide gold mine. The Diba licence has substantial exploration upside with at least six additional prospective targets yet to be drill tested. However, the historic resource alone may already represent a very significant opportunity for Altus to create substantial near-term value.
“In addition to the studies being undertaken on Diba and in light of the importance of maintaining robust health and safety procedures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our management and technical teams are active on several remote sensing and historical data compilation campaigns.
“These programmes aim to define exploration targets on existing projects as well as identify potential new projects in countries where we do not currently have a presence. This work is integral to how Altus replenishes its pipeline of projects and ultimately generates new royalties. It also allows our team and contractors to work remotely, which is important at this current time.”
Mr Poulton said after the company’s recent private placement and subsequent strategic investment by La Mancha, Altus has a strong cash treasury of approximately £8.2M / C$14.3M and is well placed to assess potential opportunities.
The Diba project hosts a historic gold resource (based on a 0.5 g/t cut off) comprised of 275,000 oz (6.34Mt at 1.35 g/t) in the Indicated category and 32,500 oz (0.72Mt at 1.40 g/t) in the Inferred category.
An additional 97 AC and RC drill holes were completed at Diba by a previous operator in 2014 subsequent to the 2013 mineral resource estimate. Results from the 2014 drill programme include 5.36 g/t over 13m, 9.60 g/t over 8m and 2.00 g/t over 21m.
Diba was originally discovered as part of a regional geochemical sampling programme conducted between 1987 and 1989. This programme reportedly also discovered the Sadiola gold mine and the former Yatela gold mine.
