In recent developments from the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), African Gold has announced a significant drilling discovery at its Didievi project in Cote d’Ivoire. The company reported an impressive intercept of 33 meters at 2.4 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold, located just 31 meters below the surface. This promising result comes from the first of six diamond drill holes completed at the Blaffo Guetto prospect within the Didievi project.
The project, located 185 kilometers northwest of Abidjan, the largest city in Cote d’Ivoire, is emerging as a key area for potential gold discoveries. With the African Gold team continuing to evaluate their drilling program, the Didievi project is showing strong potential for substantial returns.
African Gold’s Latest Drilling Success
Project Overview: Didievi in West Africa
The Didievi project lies in the southeastern region of Cote d’Ivoire, an area known for its gold deposits. African Gold’s latest drilling results mark a significant step forward for the company. The headline result of 33 meters at 2.4g/t of gold was recorded in the first of six diamond drill holes, part of a strategy to extend gold lodes and improve the definition of known structures at the Blaffo Guetto prospect.
This discovery offers more than just good grades over thick intercepts; it is hosted within a newly discovered quartz-porphyry structure in the southern zone of the project. This aspect opens up exciting new possibilities, as untested porphyries in the southern zone could offer further untapped gold potential.
Significance of the New Discovery
The importance of the new quartz-porphyry discovery cannot be overstated. Porphyry-style mineralization, often associated with large-scale, economically viable deposits, could signal that the Didievi project has much more to offer. African Gold’s intercept is located outside the current defined resource areas for the project. The maiden resource for Didievi currently stands at 4.93 million tonnes of ore containing 452,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 2.9g/t.
This latest result has raised expectations that Blaffo Guetto could be more than just a prospect—it could become a high-grade, shallow deposit with open-pit mining potential. The company notes that the new drilling results are consistent with previous shallow, high-grade intercepts at Blaffo Guetto, hinting at a potentially lucrative, near-surface resource.
Blaffo Guetto: High-Grade Potential
Domain-SW and Domain-NE: Geological Overview
The Blaffo Guetto prospect is divided into two main domains, Domain-SW and Domain-NE, both located along a northeast-trending greenstone belt. These domains contain a dense concentration of closely spaced gold lodes, making the area an attractive exploration target.
The recent headline drill hole was targeted at the Domain-SW, located approximately 1,100 meters from Domain-NE. The Domain-SW block consists of about 10 mapped lodes, extending across 700 meters of strike and 250 meters in width. These lodes are spaced an average of 25 meters apart, although in some cases, they can be separated by up to 50 meters.
Domain-NE, on the other hand, is even more extensive, with 14 mapped lodes extending across 575 meters of strike and 550 meters in width. The lodes in Domain-NE are more densely packed, with an average spacing of 10 to 15 meters, though some may be up to 100 meters apart.
The latest drill hole intersected three of the known lodes in Domain-SW, with the key gold intercept occurring in the quartz-porphyry host. Notably, this intercept is situated between two previously drilled resource areas, both containing grades higher than 1g/t.
Potential for Expansion
Importantly, the newly discovered porphyry appears to be near the surface, suggesting that the mineralization could extend upward and possibly connect to existing resources. This would enhance the overall potential of the Blaffo Guetto prospect and offer additional exploration targets for African Gold.
The quartz-porphyry mineralization also appears to remain open at depth, providing further opportunities for expansion. These early successes have bolstered the company’s confidence in its maiden drilling program, and African Gold anticipates further positive results from the remaining five drill holes.
Previous Success at Blaffo Guetto
Spectacular Results from Earlier Drilling Campaigns
Blaffo Guetto is no stranger to strong drill results. Previous drilling campaigns have returned exceptional high-grade gold intercepts. Some of the most notable results include:
10 meters at 123.7g/t gold from a depth of 66 meters, including 2 meters at 613.1g/t.
83.3 meters at 3.3g/t from 166.9 meters, including 18 meters at 12g/t.
17.4 meters at 17g/t from a depth of 244 meters, including 1 meter at 216g/t.
These earlier results, combined with the recent discovery of quartz-porphyry mineralization, underscore the potential for Blaffo Guetto to become a high-grade, multi-million-ounce deposit. African Gold is optimistic about the prospect’s ability to yield more significant discoveries in future drilling campaigns.
Future Exploration Targets
Untested Prospects and the Potential for More Discoveries
In addition to the work at Blaffo Guetto, African Gold has identified several other untested prospects within the Didievi project. These include the Kouassi and Akissi prospects to the north of Blaffo Guetto, as well as the 11-kilometer-long Poku gold trend to the southwest. These areas have shown early signs of gold mineralization but remain largely untested by modern exploration techniques.
As African Gold continues its exploration work, the potential for further discoveries remains high. The recent success with the quartz-porphyry discovery at Blaffo Guetto suggests that other parts of the Didievi project may hold similar untapped resources.
Conclusion: A Promising Future for African Gold
African Gold’s latest drilling results have confirmed the company’s belief that the Didievi project in Cote d’Ivoire is a highly prospective area for gold discovery. The newly discovered quartz-porphyry structure has opened up new exploration targets, and the company’s ongoing drilling campaign is expected to provide further confirmation of the project’s potential.
With its maiden resource already standing at nearly 500,000 ounces of gold and further high-grade discoveries on the horizon, the Didievi project is shaping up to be a key player in West Africa’s gold mining landscape. Investors and industry observers will be watching closely as African Gold continues to drill and explore the region, hoping to unlock even more of the project’s potential in the coming months.
Related topics: