AMN - MALI: Better than expected progress at Kobada

African Gold Group is making better than expected progress with a 15,000-metres diamond drilling program at Kobada Gold Project in Mali. Based upon the improved drilling deadline, it is expected that the final geological resource model will be released by mid-January 2020, more than a month ahead of schedule.

Despite very heavy rains, AGG has managed to mobilise and commence drilling at the Kobada project on the diamond drilling program. This required significant logistical solutions that were put in place by the company and its partners.

Three drills have been drilling at a metre per hour rate greater than expected and with the start of a fourth rig by early November, the drilling program is expected to be completed ahead of schedule.

Current estimates for completion of the program have been moved forward to December 12, 2019, from January 16, 2020.

This will allow the company additional time to analyse the updated structural resource model which has been generated over the past three months.

All of the drill pads for the full planned drilling program have been prepared to allow for fast relocation for drills on new hole setups, and this also allows movement of rigs throughout the night.

AGG's chief operating officer Danny Callow said, "I am happy to report an update on the schedule for completion of our current work program to deliver a definitive feasibility study (DFS) and updated ESIA to meet IFC and World Bank guidelines.

"We have recently provided an update of work completed over the past three months since August 1, 2019, which has all been achieved on schedule, but it is equally important to review the deliverables between now and the project deadline date at the end of April 2020."

As a key component of delivering a DFS, the company designed a comprehensive metallurgical test work program to test various process routes for producing gold. The intent of this is to determine an optimised flowsheet in terms of capital expenditure and gold recovery from the full mineralogy across the ore body.

In the original schedule, it was envisaged that metallurgical test work could only commence upon resumption of drilling and preparation of new metallurgical samples.

As part of the initial geological analysis on-site, it was found that full representation of mineralogy in the ore body was available in the more than 29,000 metres of core on site. This enabled a fast track approach to preparation and shipment of samples to South Africa for metallurgical testing.

The full spectrum of test work currently being undertaken was started ahead of schedule and results from the initial tests are expected mid-November.

Based on the updated schedule, it is expected that by early-January 2020 a fully defined optimised process model will be complete and presented. This is well before the original deadline to meet the April 2020 target.

Work is progressing well on the renovation of the old camp and construction of the new camp. Despite challenging logistical issues, heavier than expected rainfall and additional scope changes to the infrastructure program, AGG's partners EGTF have performed very well.

With works at 95% on the new camp, it was expected to move offices to the new office facility by the first week in November, accommodation units by the second week in November and full camp completion and handover by the third week in November. This is ahead of schedule and budget.

"When we started in early August on Kobada, it was in the middle of the rainy season," said Danny Callow. "While many operators would have waited for the rains to subside, AGG and its partners dug in their heels and mobilised to site. This is in the spirit of getting the job done, and it has paid off for us.

"We commend all of our partners, Senet, AMCO, MINXCON, EGTF and our local teams on-site and in Bamako for their extraordinary effort so far, and intend to keep ahead of the schedule to deliver the feasibility study on a very tight timeline.

"We are using highly experienced operators and personnel who understand the conditions and have had experience of operating in Mali, and our decision to use these partners is now starting to pay dividends.

"By fast-tracking the early part of the project, we will be in a position to deliver phased updates to the markets as drilling information becomes available, as well as updated metallurgical test work results.

"These are the two key variables for a successful project and therefore are receiving the most focus at the moment."

AGG intends to deliver a ready-for-construction DFS and ESIA by the end of April 2020.

www.africangoldgroup.com