Substantial Increase in Gold Resource at Tabakorole Project, Southern Mali
Highlights:
- FT Prospect at Tabakorole hosts a Mineral Resource Estimate comprising:
- 16,600,000 tonnes at 1.2 g/t Au for 620,000 ounces in the Inferred category
- 7,300,000 tonnes at 1.2 g/t Au for 290,000 ounces in the Indicated category
- 54% increase in ounces and 20% increase in grade from historical mineral resource
- 43% of the MRE situated within 100m of the surface
- Gold mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth
- Preliminary metallurgical studies to be undertaken
- Drilling to test multiple resource expansion targets to commence in Q4 2020
- Marvel is earning an initial 33% interest in the Project under the JV
- Altus holds a 2.5% NSR gold royalty on Tabakorole
Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus, commented:
"We are delighted to announce this substantial gold resource at the Tabakorole gold project in southern Mali. The recent drilling undertaken by Marvel, as part of their phase-1 earn-in on the Project, has resulted in a 54% increase in gold ounces and a 20% higher grade than the previous historical resource.
"The MRE is located on the 2.9km long FT Prospect, which remains open along strike and at depth. Recently reported aircore drill results, including 6.2 g/t over 6m from 14m indicate the clear potential for the strike length of the FT Prospect to be extended and for the resource to grow. Marvel have advised that they intend to drill these and other targets as the JV moves in to phase-2 in the fourth quarter of this year.
"Tabakorole represents a significant regional gold discovery and we look forward to updating shareholders with further news as the JV progresses."
Mineral Resource Table
The MRE has been prepared by International Resource Solutions Pty Ltd (Perth, Australia) under the JORC Code and is reported as at 30th September, 2020. A Qualified Person has not undertaken sufficient work to classify the Mineral Resource Estimate in accordance with NI 43-101, and the Company is not treating it as such.
Table 1: Mineral Resource Estimate Summary Table (JORC Code)
| Domain | Indicated | Inferred | ||||
| Tonnes (t) | Grade (g/t) | Contained gold (oz) | Tonnes (t) | Grade (g/t) | Contained gold (oz) | |
| OXIDE | 1,000,000 | 1.3 | 40,000 | 1,500,000 | 1.3 | 60,000 |
| FRESH | 6,300,000 | 1.2 | 250,000 | 15,100,000 | 1.2 | 560,000 |
| Total | 7,300,000 | 1.2 | 290,000 | 16,600,000 | 1.2 | 620,000 |
Note: Cut-off grade 0.6g/t Au.
The project is currently 100% beneficially owned by Altus and Altus is the operator of the JV. Marvel are earning an initial 33% interest in the Project, through the completion of the first phase of exploration.
Resource expansion potential
Recent air-core (‘'AC'') and diamond (‘'DD'') drilling has confirmed that gold mineralisation continues at least 600m to the north-west along strike of the FT Prospect, which remains open along strike and at depth. There are also areas throughout the existing resource that are constrained due to a lack of drilling data.
Mineralisation in the south-eastern portion of the deposit is more consistent than the north-western zone and hence represents an outstanding target zone within the FT Prospect to build on the existing Resource. The MRE is defined over a 2.9km strike length with 43% of the resource being within approximately 100m of surface. The deposit demonstrates consistently thick zones which indicate the potential for a relatively low mining strip ratio.
Due to the consistency and predictability of this south eastern zone, there is a high degree of confidence that mineralisation can be converted from Inferred into the Indicated category when infill drilling is completed. It is envisioned that the JV will commence resource expansion drilling during the fourth quarter.
Marvel will be undertaking preliminary metallurgical testwork consisting of cyanide bottle rolls to establish the applicability of conventional cyanide extraction of gold. The results of this work are expected in the December quarter.
Illustrations
The following figures have been prepared and relate to the disclosures in this announcement and are visible in the version of this announcement on the Company's website (www.altus-strategies.com) or in PDF format by following this link: https://altus-strategies.com/site/assets/files/4925/altus_nr_-_tbk_mre_30_sept_2020.pdf
- Location of Tabakorole and Altus' other projects in Mali is shown in Figure 1.
- Location of Tabakorole in southern Mali is shown in Figure 2.
- Tabakorole Mineral Resource Estimate is shown in Figure 3.
- Plan of the recently completed diamond drilling at Tabakorole is shown in Figure 4.
- A selection of photos from the project is shown in Figure 5.
Mineral Resource Estimate
International Resource Solutions Pty Ltd of Perth, Australia, prepared the MRE in accordance with JORC Code as detailed in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Tabakorole Mineral Resource Grade-Tonnage
| Cutoff (Au g/t) | Indicated | Inferred | Total | ||||
| Mt | Au (g/t) | koz (Au) | Mt | Au (g/t) | koz (Au) | koz (Au) | |
| 0.3 | 12.6 | 0.9 | 370 | 25.6 | 0.9 | 750 | 1,120 |
| 0.4 | 10.7 | 1.0 | 350 | 22.4 | 1.0 | 710 | 1,060 |
| 0.5 | 8.9 | 1.1 | 320 | 19.4 | 1.1 | 670 | 990 |
| 0.6 | 7.3 | 1.2 | 290 | 16.6 | 1.2 | 620 | 910 |
| 0.7 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 260 | 13.8 | 1.3 | 560 | 830 |
| 0.8 | 4.9 | 1.5 | 240 | 11.4 | 1.4 | 500 | 740 |
| 0.9 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 210 | 9.2 | 1.5 | 440 | 660 |
| 1.0 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 200 | 7.4 | 1.6 | 390 | 590 |
Multiple Indicator Kriging ("MIK") with change of support was selected as the most appropriate method for estimating the gold resource contained in the Tabakorole deposit. A total of two grade estimate domains have been developed within the mineralised zones and based on the geological description in the previous sections and an approximate lower cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t gold.
A block size of 20mE x 25mN x 10mRL was selected as an appropriate block size for estimation based on the drill spacing (50m strike spacing or better), the geometry of mineralisation and the likely potential future selective mining unit (SMU) (appropriate for potential open-pit mining). An SMU dimension of 5mE x 12.5mN x 5mRL was selected as appropriate for support correction investigation. An indirect lognormal support correction was applied to emulate mining selectivity for the above SMU dimension.
The MIK grade estimates consist of a series of proportions and grades above the pre-defined cut-off grades estimated into a ‘panel' or large blocks. The proportions and grades are derived from a targeted SMU block size via change of support process. As such, while the proportions and grades at a certain cut-off for any given panel may be known, its position within the panel is not. To assist with a more intuitive presentation of the model grades, the MIK grade estimates have been localised to SMU dimension blocks using a process identical to that of Localised Uniform Conditioning. The SMU sized blocks have been assigned a single grade so that the panel MIK grade estimate grade tonnage curve has been replicated.
Raw sample intervals from the drill hole database were flagged by the estimation domains and composited to 2m downhole intervals for the purposes of equalising sample support and as an input to grade estimation.
The impact of higher-grade gold outliers was examined on composite data using log probability plots and cumulative statistics. This is particularly relevant in the case where extreme grade values may exist however MIK estimation as implemented at Tabakorole is independent of top cutting and was therefore not applied to the final grade estimate.
Grade and indicator variography were developed based on the downhole composites. Indicator variography was input to the MIK estimates while grade variography was used for the change of support analysis applied to the MIK estimates.
The proposed development scenario for the deposit is as an open cut (pit) mine. No additional mining dilution has been applied to the reported MRE.
Very limited metallurgical test work has been done and this was only completed on oxide material. The test work was carried out by Peacocke and Simpson in Zimbabwe in October 2015 on a 100kg sample collected using auger drilling over an area of 20 x 25m centred around hole 06TKDDH-059. The process yielded a total of 90.6% recovery using a conventional cyanidation process. Due to the limited coverage and selective nature of sampling the results from this test work are not considered representative of the deposit. Marvel has advised the Company that it plans to complete a preliminary program of metallurgical test work using material collected from drill core in the future. No other additional modifying factors have been considered as part of this resource estimate.
Resource classification was based on geological confidence and a spatial review of estimation result parameters which reflected the quality of the estimate for each block. At the Tabakarole deposit, areas that had high confidence estimate values, had sufficient drilling density (≤50m section spaced drilling) or were proximal to 50m spaced drill lines were classified as Indicated Resources. The remainder was classified as Inferred.
Tabakorole Project: Location
The 100 km2 Tabakorole gold project is located in southern Mali, approximately 280 km south of the capital city of Bamako. The Project sits on the Massagui Belt which hosts the Morila gold mine (operated by Barrick NYSE:GOLD, TSX:ABX), located approximately 100 km to the north. The Project is 125 km southeast of the Yanfolila gold mine (operated by Hummingbird AIM:HUM) and 100 km east of the Kalana gold project (operated by Endeavour Mining TSX:EDV). Mineralisation hosted on these properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralisation hosted at Tabakorole.
Tabakorole Project: Geology
Tabakorole comprises a 2.7 km long shear zone which is up to 200m wide, hosted in the Archaean and Birimian aged Bougouni Basin of the Man Shield of southern Mali. The geology is dominated by clastic sediments, cut by northwest trending deformation zones which host gold mineralisation. At least two, possibly three, Eburnean deformation events are believed to have affected the geology of Tabakorole. The Project hosts the FT Prospect comprised of mylonites, sheared diorite, gabbro, mafic dykes and late stage felsic dykes, within a folded and deformed metasedimentary package of meta-siltstone, meta-wacke and meta-sandstone. Mineralisation is locally most favourably associated where structures cut gabbro and along lithological contacts with gabbro.
Qualified Person
The technical disclosure in this regulatory announcement has been read and approved by Steven Poulton, Chief Executive of Altus. A graduate of the University of Southampton in Geology (Hons), he also holds a Master's degree from the Camborne School of Mines (Exeter University) in Mining Geology. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and has over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person under the AIM rules and National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators".
For further information you are invited to visit the Company's website www.altus-strategies.com or contact:
| Steven Poulton, Chief Executive | Tel:+44 (0) 1235 511 767 E: info@altus-strategies.com |
| SP Angel (Nominated Adviser) Richard Morrison / Soltan Tagiev | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
| SP Angel (Broker) Abigail Wayne / Richard Parlons | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0471 |
| Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR & IR) Georgia Colkin / Charles Goodwin / Henry Wilkinson | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3004 9512 E: altus@yellowjerseypr.com |
About Altus Strategies Plc
Altus Strategies (AIM: ALS, TSX-V: ALTS & OTCQX: ALTUF) is a mining royalty company generating a diversified and precious metal focused portfolio of assets. The Company's focus on Africa and differentiated approach, of generating royalties on its own discoveries as well as through financings and acquisitions with third parties, has attracted key institutional investor backing. The Company engages constructively with all stakeholders, working diligently to minimise its environmental impact and to promote positive economic and social outcomes in the communities where it operates. For further information, please visit www.altus-strategies.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this announcement, including information relating to future financial or operating performance and other statements that express the expectations of the Directors or estimates of future performance constitute "forward-looking statements". These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include without limitation the completion of planned expenditures, the ability to complete exploration programmes on schedule and the success of exploration programmes. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date of this announcement and the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is based on assumptions made in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. The forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as at the date hereof and the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information or any forward-looking statements contained in any other announcements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law or regulations.
TSX Venture Exchange Disclaimer
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Market Abuse Regulation Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 ("MAR") until the release of this announcement.
Glossary of Terms
The following is a glossary of technical terms:
"AC" means Air Core drilling
"Au" means gold
"DD" means Diamond Drilling
"g" means grams
"g/t" means grams per tonne
"grade(s)" means the quantity of ore or metal in a specified quantity of rock
"JORC Code" means the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves prepared by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Minerals Council of Australia. The JORC Code is an acceptable foreign code for purposes of NI 43-101.
"JV" means Joint Venture
"km" means kilometres
"m" means metres
"MRE" means Mineral Resource Estimate
"NI 43-101" means National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" of the Canadian Securities Administrators
"NSR" means net smelter returns
"ppm" means parts per million
"Qualified Person" means a person that has the education, skills and professional credentials to act as a qualified person under NI 43-101
"RC" means Reverse Circulation Drilling
"QAQC" means Quality Assurance and Quality Control
**END**
SOURCE: Altus Strategies Plc
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