Turaco Gold posts maiden “interim” JORC resource of over 2.5Moz at Afema Project, Ivory Coast

Turaco Gold (ASX:TCG) has posted its maiden resource of over 2.5Moz of gold at its Afema Project in West African nation Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire.)

The company reported this resource is just “interim” with drilling ongoing; 60% of the resource sits in the higher-confidence ‘Indicated’ category. Mineralisation is interpreted to remain open in all directions.

The mineral resource estimate (MRE) comprises the Woulo Woulo, Jonction and Anuiri deposits – but excludes “other mineralisation” associated with shear zones, perhaps unsurprising, the targets of future drilling.

Rigs will sniff after those targets around mid-September while drilling remains ongoing at Woulo Woulo – already included in the maiden JORC – and Jonction to “shortly” be tapped again.

Management also noted that following “excellent” metallurgical testwork (metwork) conducted on ore from Jonction, the company is now moving ahead with metwork on ore from the Anuiri deposit.

This resource also comes only 5 months after Turaco picked up the project to begin with – a move no doubt inspired partly by exchange rates, given Turaco MD Justin Tremain sees expenditure and acquisition costs at less than US$7 per ounce of gold (once production is live, all cards in order.)

“Importantly, this MRE comprises only three deposits on the granted mining permit within the 1,267km2 Afema project area,” Tremain added.

“We expect to commence exploration drilling within the recently granted exploration permits in the coming weeks.

“This drilling is targeting new discoveries in close proximity (<10km) to the Woulo Woulo, Jonction and Anuiri deposits … further results from drilling at Woulo Woulo are expected shortly.”

TCG last traded at 23cps.