Nov 25 2016
Sarama Resources Ltd. ("Sarama" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SWA) advises that aircore ("AC") and diamond drilling has commenced at the South Houndé Project (the "Project") in south-western Burkina Faso. The program is designed to build on encouraging results from the last drilling campaign and to test for strike and down-dip extensions to grow the current 2.1Moz1,2 gold inferred mineral resource to advance the Project.
Highlights
- Encouraging intersections from previous drill programs and review of geophysical survey data have generated new targets that could add to the current 2.1Moz1,2 gold mineral resource at the South Houndé Project.
- 1,200m diamond drill program planned to target down-dip extensions of a high-grade lens at the MM Prospect to a vertical depth of 450m.
- 4,000m AC program planned to test for oxide mineralisation at the Djimbake Prospect, located a further 3.2km along strike from the southerly extent of the eastern horizon of the mineral resource.
- 2,200m AC program planned to test for oxide mineralisation along cross-structures inferred to link the MM-MC and Phantom East-MM Prospects.
- USD$3.5M (CAD$4.7M) exploration program, funded by Acacia Mining plc, is budgeted for 2017 including geochemical and geophysical surveys and drill programs.
Sarama's President and CEO, Andrew Dinning, commented:
"After a phase of drilling in close proximity to the established mineral resource, we look forward to conducting step-out drilling to test for extensions to the strike of the mineral resource and also test down-dip of high-grade zones that have the potential to support underground mining.
This drilling is expected to yield valuable geological information to further develop the geologic model and enhance targeting and, if successful, will highlight the potential for extensions to the mineral resource that will be followed-up in 2017.
We firmly believe that the South Houndé Project has the potential to be an open pit and underground mining complex. The Project will play a key role in the development of the southern part of the Houndé Belt where Sarama has significant interests across three projects that collectively host a sizeable gold mineral resource."
Diamond Drilling
Depth Extension of High-Grade Lens -- MM Prospect
A high-grade lens within the MM Prospect that is defined by intersections including 10.2m @ 14.85g/t Au from 109.3m in DDH025, 15.5m @ 9.36g/t Au from 176.5m in DDH045, and 19.1m @ 4.06g/t Au from 263.5m in DDH050 will be tested for down-dip extensions.
The lens is centred at 1176800mN and two 600m-long diamond core holes are planned to target the down-plunge extension approximately 120m below the last significant drill intersection and to a vertical depth of 450m (Figure 1). The drilling will assist in resolving the plunge orientation of this lens and will lead to better targeting of the high-grade lenses within the mineralized zones which have potential to be amenable to underground mining.
Aircore Drilling
South-Western Corridor Extension -- Djimbake Prospect
A 4,000m AC drill program has commenced along the south-western extension of the Tankoro Corridor, a 10.2km-long zone of structurally emplaced porphyry dykes and associated gold mineralization. Mineralization is open to the north-east and to the south-west along this mineralized corridor.
The objective of the reconnaissance drill program at the Djimbake Prospect (Figure 1) is to test for oxide mineralisation potentially hosted in two parallel horizons up to 3.2km along strike from the limit of the current mineral resource. The drilling is guided by gold-in-soil and geophysical anomalies and an interpreted 070°-striking cross fault that is part of the mineralized structural geometry.
Linking Structures -- MC, MM and Phantom East Prospects
A 2,200m AC program is planned to test for oxide mineralisation in near-surface expressions of cross-structures that are interpreted to link north-north-easterly striking mineralised lodes at the MM-MC Prospects and the Phantom East-MM Prospects. The reconnaissance-level targets were generated from geophysical surveys and the geological concept is supported by the presence of high-grade mineralisation in other areas of the mineralised system with a strike direction that is oblique to the main trend