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Tietto Minerals adds to bonanza grade tally with results of 503.85 g/t gold at AG core in Côte d’Ivoire

Published: 11:55 25 Feb 2022 AEDT

Tietto Minerals Ltd - Tietto Minerals adds to bonanza grade tally with results of 503.85 g/t gold at AG core in Côte d’Ivoire

Tietto Minerals Ltd (ASX:TIE) has added more bonanza-grade intersections to its tally from infill drilling on the main Abujar Shear within its 3.35-million-ounce Abujar Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire, including 503.85 g/t gold within 10 metres at 51.75 g/t at AG Core.

Notably, the West African gold explorer and developer has also intersected high-grade results from its exploration diamond drilling at multiple prospects on the main Abujar shear including:

  • 1 metre at 46.2 g/t gold from 141 metres;
  • 4 metres at 6.8 g/t gold from 10 metres including 1 metre at 26.34 g/t gold; and
  • 1 metre at 24.26 g/t gold from 77 metres.

Looking ahead, Tietto is funded to production with construction on schedule – targeting first gold at Abujar in the December quarter of 2022.

“Largely untested potential”

Tietto managing director Dr Caigen Wang said: “We have added to our tally of bonanza‐grade gold intercepts from infill drilling at AG Core.

“Intercepts from our infill drill program now account for six of the top 10 assays at Abujar, including the project‐best result of 1.1 metre at 2,853g/t gold.

 “All infill drilling results are with our resource modelling consultants to complete a resource model update, due at the end of this quarter.

“This model update is focused on the conversion from indicated to measured resources covering the first two years of production.

“Our drill rigs have moved to prospects located to the north (GGL) and south (AGM, PGL) of AG Core with the goal of defining new gold resources in an update later this year.

“The high‐grade gold intercepts seen in the latest results highlight the prospectivity and still largely untested potential of the main Abujar Shear.”

Infill drilling program

Infill drilling was completed at AG Core on 25-metre line spacings between Section Lines 14 to 30 across the AG Core to a depth covering the first two years of gold production at Abujar.

Notably, gold mineralisation at AG Core remains open at depths well below open pit limits.

Tietto will plan further drilling to assess the potential for underground mining at Abujar below the planned DFS open pit.

Oblique long section showing latest drill results and visible gold in core at AG

Exploration drilling

Tietto’s exploration results are from 33 diamond holes totalling 6,421 metres targeting resource growth from prospects along strike from AG core.

The company’s six diamond drills are active in the area, with 100,000 metres of drilling planned in 2022.

Other strong results from exploration drilling include:

  • 1.31 metres at 15.65 g/t gold from 37 metres;
  • 2 metres at 8.8 g/t from 151 metres; and
  • 2 metres at 7.06 g/t from 17 metres.

Furthermore, gold mineralisation is open at depth and along strike with further drilling planned to follow up on these results.

Forward plan

Tietto completed an A$85 million placement in January 2022 to complement its debt strategy, where the company mandated Taurus Mining Finance Fund No.2 L.P. to deliver an underwritten project development facility of up to US$140 million of debt funding for the US$200 million project.

Abujar DFS demonstrated robust financial results and estimated first‐year gold production of 260,000 ounces and 1.2 million ounces over the first six years of Abujar’s 11‐year mine life for a 5% net present value (NPV) of A$1.3 billion (pre‐tax) and A$0.97 billion (post‐tax) using US$1,700/oz gold and A$/US$=0.741.

Tietto awaits assays for 36 drill holes totalling 7,983 metres with the next resource update due to end this quarter.

The company is negotiating the final regulatory step, the Abujar Mining Convention, with the Ivorian government, having already secured all mining and environmental approvals.

Moving forward, Tietto is funded to production with construction on schedule – targeting first gold at Abujar in the December quarter of 2022.

Wang adds: “We are fully funded to production at Abujar, which has potential to be one of the largest gold producing mines in Côte d’Ivoire, expected to produce more than 260,000 ounces of gold in the first year and 1.2 million ounces of gold in the first six years.

 “We are well positioned to execute our dual strategy in 2022; our exploration team is targeting drilling 100,000 metres of diamond core this year to drive resource growth, and our build team is advancing construction work on schedule as we develop the Abujar Gold Project into West Africa’s next gold mine, with first gold by the end of the fourth quarter of this year.”

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