Roxgold Continues to Return High Grade Gold Assays From Séguéla including 19.8 GPT Over 12 M & 57.7 GPT Over 4 M
Roxgold Inc. (“Roxgold” or the “Company”) (TSX: ROXG) (OTCQX: ROGFF) is pleased to announce further infill and extension drilling results from the Company’s Ancien prospect at the Séguéla Gold Project (“Séguéla”) located in Côte d’Ivoire.
Highlights of Ancien Results (Graphic: Business Wire)
Séguéla Gold Project, Côte d’Ivoire:
Highlights from Reverse Circulation (“RC”) and Diamond (“DD”) drilling
Ancien
- 12 metres ("m") at 19.8 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au") in drill hole SGRD761 from 156m including
- 1m at 52.1 g/t Au from 162m and
- 3m at 52.9 g/t Au from 164m
- 4m at 57.7 g/t Au in drill hole SGRD748 from 202m including
- 2m at 114.2 g/t Au from 202m
- 15m at 10.9 g/t Au in drill hole SGRD747 from 226m including
- 3m at 39.8 g/t Au from 238m;
and a separate interval of -
4m at 9.2 g/t Au from 245m
- 3m at 39.8 g/t Au from 238m;
- 22m at 6.5 g/t Au in drill hole SGRD740 from 187m and also
- 6m at 7.8 g/t Au from 213m
- 11m at 8.2 g/t Au in drill hole SGRC760 from 177m including
- 2m at 37.6 g/t Au from 182m
“The exploration successes we continue to demonstrate at Séguéla builds our confidence that the Feasibility Study, due for completion early next year, will outline a larger more robust project than what was defined in the Preliminary Economic Assessment,” stated John Dorward, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The continuing high grade results from infill and extension drilling at Ancien further underpin the emerging potential of the deposit to improve the mine plan. With three rigs currently turning, we are confident that further upside will be realized at the existing deposits and the suite of early stage targets which are slated for near-term testing.”
Paul Weedon, Vice President Exploration commented “Ancien continues to demonstrate its high grade credentials with these recent results extending the depth of the central high grade core in holes SGRD747 and SGRD748 well beyond the margin of the PEA conceptual pit shell. Similarly, the strength of the hanging wall lode is evident in the 12m at 19.8 g/t Au intersected in SGRD761 and 11m at 8.2 g/t Au in SGRD760, further underpinning confidence Ancien will be a significant contributor to the mine plan.”
Séguéla Gold Project
Exploration activities have continued to extend and infill the existing Inferred Mineral Resources close to Antenna and the proposed plant site to support the Feasibility Study. Agouti, Boulder and Ancien, are within 6 kilometres of the Antenna deposit (Figure 1).
Ancien
Results from an additional 17 RC/DD holes have been received from Ancien, bringing to a total of 98 holes completed at Ancien since the drill hole data cut-off date (February 12th 2020) used to support the Inferred Resource estimate in the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) of 261,000 ounces (refer Company release April 14th 2020). These 17 holes complete the Phase 1 and 2 programs which were designed to infill, extend and upgrade geological confidence at Ancien for inclusion in the forthcoming feasibility study.
Extension and infill drilling of the core high grade zones below the conceptual pit base returned several high grade and broad intersections, including 15m at 10.9 g/t Au and 4m at 9.2 g/t Au from SGRD 747 and 4m at 57.7 g/t Au from SGRD 748, extending the high grade core at least 100m down plunge (Figure 2).
Drilling to test the upper extensions of the hangingwall lode also successfully intersected several high grade intervals, including 12m at 19.8 g/t Au from SGRD761 and 11m at 8.2 g/t Au from SGRD760, extending mineralization in this area an additional 100m up-plunge and improving the understanding of key structural controls associated with high grade mineralization. These results are expected to enhance the already positive contribution of the Ancien deposit to the PEA.
Results from two deep holes (SGRD750 and 751) stepping a further 100m down plunge were received with encouraging results confirming the Ancien mineralization remains open at more than 400m below surface with logging and structural interpretation indicating the two holes intersected the margins of the main mineralized shoot with the holes trending above and below the central core. Additional drilling will be carried out in Q4, incorporating the improved understanding of the structural controls of the high grade Ancien mineralization to target the down plunge extension.
Highlights from the most recent drilling at Ancien include:
- 12 metres ("m") at 19.8 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au") in drill hole SGRD761 from 156m including
- 1m at 52.1 g/t Au from 162m and
- 3m at 52.9 g/t Au from 164m
- 4m at 57.7 g/t Au in drill hole SGRD748 from 202m including
- 2m at 114.2 g/t Au from 202m;
and two separate intervals of - 5m at 1.97 g/t Au from 210m; and
- 10m at 1.0 g/t Au from 221m
- 2m at 114.2 g/t Au from 202m;
- 15m at 10.9 g/t Au in drill hole SGRD747 from 226m including
- 1m at 18 g/t Au from 236m and
- 3m at 39.8 g/t Au from 238m;
and a separate interval of - 4m at 9.2 g/t Au from 245m
- 22m at 6.5 g/t Au in drill hole SGRD740 from 187m including
- 2m at 27.8 g/t Au from 193m;
and a separate interval of - 6m at 7.8 g/t Au from 213m
- 2m at 27.8 g/t Au from 193m;
- 11m at 8.2 g/t Au in drill hole SGRC760 from 177m including
- 2m at 37.6 g/t Au from 182m
- 17m at 1.5 g/t Au in drill hole SGRD749 from 195m
- 6m at 5.7 g/t Au in drill hole SGRD759 from 136m
Séguéla Regional Reconnaissance
Scout RC drilling has recently been completed at Koula and is underway at Winy and will progressively work across the high priority Séguéla prospects. This testwork program is following up on the mapping and reconnaissance sampling at Séguéla which continues to emphasise the regional prospectivity of the property package with several prospects identified where rock chip samples recorded several instances of high grade visible gold (Figure 3). In addition to ongoing detailed field mapping, auger drilling is underway targeting the southern extensions of key favourable structural corridors that host the Antenna, Ancien-Boulder-Agouti, and Elephant-Winy mineralization.
Click here to view the full listing of drill results from the recent drilling programs at the Séguéla Gold Project. Note: all results are reported as down-hole intervals which represent approximately 80% of true width.
Catalysts and Next Steps
Event | Timing | |
Ongoing infill, expansion and Feasibility-support drilling program at Séguéla | Q3 2020 | |
Satellite target exploration at Séguéla | H2 2020 | |
Drilling results from Boussoura | H2 2020 | |
Underground drilling program in 55 Zone at Yaramoko Mine Complex | H2 2020 | |
Feasibility Study for Séguéla | H1 2021 | |
Séguéla construction decision | H1 2021 |
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
All drilling data completed by Roxgold utilized the following procedures and methodologies. All drilling was carried out under the supervision of Roxgold personnel.
RC drilling used a 5.25 inch face sampling pneumatic hammer with samples collected into 60 litre plastic bags. Samples were kept dry by maintaining enough air pressure to exclude groundwater inflow. If water ingress exceeded the air pressure, RC drilling was stopped, and drilling converted to diamond core tails. Aircore (“AC”) drilling was collected in one metre intervals and sampled in a similar fashion to RC methods. Once collected, RC and AC samples were riffle split through a three-tier splitter to yield a 12.5% representative sample for submission to the analytical laboratory. The residual 87.5% sample were stored at the drill site until assay results were received and validated. Coarse reject samples for all mineralized samples corresponding to significant intervals are retained and stored on-site at the Company controlled core yard.
DD drill holes were drilled with HQ sized diamond drill bits. The core was logged, marked up for sampling using standard lengths of one metre. Samples were then cut into equal halves using a diamond saw. One half of the core was left in the original core box and stored in a secure location at the Company core yard at Séguéla. The other half was sampled, catalogued and placed into sealed bags and securely stored at the site until shipment.
All Séguéla RC, AC and DD core samples were shipped to ALS Laboratories preparation laboratory in Yamoussoukro for preparation. Samples were dried and crushed by the Lab and a 250-gram split prepared from the coarse crushed material, prior to pulverization and preparation of a 200g sample. Samples are then shipped via commercial courier to ALS’s analytical facility in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso where routine gold analysis using a 50-gram charge and fire assay with an atomic absorption finish was completed. Quality control procedures included the systematic insertion of blanks, duplicates and sample standards into the sample stream. In addition, the Lab inserted its own quality control samples.
Qualified Person
Paul Weedon, MAIG, Vice-President, Exploration for Roxgold Inc., a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release, including the QA/QC, sampling, analytical and test data underlying this information. Mr. Weedon verified the information in the news release by reviewing the drill logs, geological interpretations and supporting analytical data. No limitations were imposed on Mr. Weedon’s verification process. For more information on the Company’s QA/QC and sampling procedures, please refer to the Company’s Annual Information Form dated December 31, 2018, available on the Company’s website at www.roxgold.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
About Roxgold
Roxgold is a Canadian-based gold mining company with assets located in West Africa. The Company owns and operates the high-grade Yaramoko Gold Mine located on the Houndé greenstone belt in Burkina Faso and is advancing the development and exploration of the Séguéla Gold Project located in Côte d’Ivoire. Roxgold trades on the TSX under the symbol ROXG and as ROGFF on OTCQX.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (“forward-looking statements”). Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation: economic statements related to the PEA, such as future projected production, capital costs and operating costs, statements with respect to Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resource estimates, recovery rates, timing of future studies including the feasibility study, environmental assessments and development plans. These statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. In certain cases, forward-looking information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the PEA, the estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, the realization of resource estimates and reserve estimates, any potential upgrades of existing resource estimates, gold metal prices, the timing and amount of future exploration and development expenditures, the estimation of initial and sustaining capital requirements, the estimation of labour and operating costs, the availability of necessary financing and materials to continue to explore and develop the Company’s properties in the short and long-term, the progress of exploration and development activities, the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, and assumptions with respect to currency fluctuations, environmental risks, title disputes or claims, and other similar matters. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include: delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, changes in the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, inaccurate reserve and resource estimates, changes in the price of gold, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements, including the factors included in the Company’s annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2019. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Contact
Roxgold Inc.
Graeme Jennings, CFA, Vice President, Investor Relations
416-203-6401
gjennings@roxgold.com