West African snaffles gold intercept at 7.3 g/t in Burkina Faso

Gold miner and developer West African Resources Ltd (ASX:WAF) has picked up a thick intercept of gold grading more than 7 grams per tonne from infill diamond drilling at its M1 South Deeps resource in Burkina Faso.

The drilling program also showed that high-grade mineralisation at the deposit was continuous, and confirmed its geometrry.

But it was the intercepts which provided the best clues to M1 South Deeps’ potential, with these including 45 metres at 7.3 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold, 16 metres at 8.3 g/t, 23 metres at 5.5g/t, and 20.5 metres at 5.5g/t.

The company is continuing drilling work at the resource – which is part of West African’s wider Sanbrado Gold Operations – with an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) and ore reserves due for reporting in the first quarter of 2025.

Executive Chairman Richard Hyde said he was impressed with the high-grade gold intercepts taken from this program.

“The infill drilling has confirmed the high-grade and tenor of the resource model and supports our plans to extend mining beneath existing M1 South Ore Reserves,” he said.

“WAF is on track to produce 4 million ounces over the next decade, with annual production set to peak in 2029 at 473,000 ounces of gold.

“Our unhedged resources now stand at 12.8 million ounces and Ore Reserves at 6.1Moz of gold.”

West African shares gained ground on the news: at 12:18 AEST, they were trading at $1.48, a rise of 2.43% since the market opened.