Mako Gold’s follow up drilling has struck multiple wide and shallow zones of manganese mineralisation and confirmed a discovery to add to its Korhogo gold project in the Côte d’Ivoire of West Africa.
Discovery was made when all 22 rock chip samples on two parallel seven-kilometre-long units discovered at Korhogo returned significant and consistent levels of manganese at an average of 22 per cent – now backed up by a 10-hole shallow reconnaissance RC drill program with results up to 19 per cent and in line with several ASX-listed producers.
Mako Managing Director Peter Ledwidge said the company was extremely excited at the initial manganese drill results at Korhogo.
Eight out of the ten holes we drilled across the interpreted 14 km combined strike intersected manganese. These results confirm the potential for a globally significant manganese discovery. Given the high prospectivity of the deposit, I spent several days on the project in July and observed first-hand the sheer extent of the Mn outcropping at surface,” Mr Ledwidge said.
“We are following up the drill program with a detailed mapping and rock-chip sampling program,” he added.
“Subsequent to that we will conduct a ground geophysical survey to assess the width and depth. Both of these programs will assist us in targeting the high-grade core of the manganese units for future drilling.”
A manganese discovery is hardly a surprise given its location in a top-10 producing nation, with one of Côte d’Ivoire’s four operating mines resting along strike from Korhogo, but still offers Mako an entry into the critical minerals race and multi-commodity potential.
Manganese and the originally targeted gold are not mutually exclusive, and both commodities appear to have the same controls, with anomalies lying across the same structure.
Mako had already delivered an 868-thousand-ounce maiden gold resource to its flagship Napié Gold Project to the south, and now has three rigs drilling away over both projects with eyes on a potentially world-class manganese asset at Korhogo.