Perseus Mining achieves near-mine exploration success in Ghana with potential to extend Edikan life

Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU, TSX:PRU, OTC:PMNXF) has notched up further impressive drilling results at Nkosuo prospect on the Agyakusu Prospecting Licence, just seven kilometres from its Edikan Gold Mine in Ghana. 

The Nkosuo discovery has the potential to extend Edikan’s mine life beyond the forecast end in FY2026-2027. 

New results confirm Nkosuo hosts near-surface, granite-hosted gold mineralisation similar in style to that mined in Edikan’s Fobinso and Abnabna pits.

Resource definition drilling is ongoing and Perseus expects to complete a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) for Nkosuo early in the June 2022 quarter.

Results

Perseus commenced exploration drilling at the Nkosuo prospect on the Agyakusu permit on July 1, 2021, with the first highly encouraging results being reported on October 13, 2021.

Since then, Perseus had drilled a further 13,008 metres in 36 reverse circulation (RC), five diamond (DD) holes and 46 RC pre-collared diamond holes (RD).

Results have continued to provide strong support for the presence of a shallow open-pittable gold resource within trucking distance of the Edikan mill.

The results continue to demonstrate strong potential for shallow, granite-hosted open-pitable gold resources, including:

• 37 metres at 1.49 g/t gold from 3 metres;
• 60 metres at 1.28 g/t from 6 metres;
• 43 metres at 1.79 g/t from 0 metres;
• 24 metres at 2.04 g/t from 6 metres;
• 37 metres at 1.74 g/t from 8 metres;
• 51 metres at 2.09 g/t from 20 metres;
• 46 metres at 2.31 g/t from 18 metres;
• 13 metres at 4.18 g/t from 1 metre & 54 metres at 1.63 g/t from 54 metres;
• 34 metres at 1.3 g/t from surface & 14 metres at 2.17 g/t from 58 metres;
• 38 metres at 1.83 g/t from 38 metres & 24 metres at 1.65 g/t from 90 metres;
• 26 metres at 1.55 g/t from surface;
• 22 metres at 3.92 g/t from 8 metres; and
• 16 metres at 4.17 g/t from 24 metres.

Add to Edikan’s mine life

Perseus managing director and CEO Jeff Quartermaine said: “As Perseus moves closer to achieving our goal of producing 500,000 ounces of gold per year, we have turned our sights to finding ways of sustaining this level of gold production to the end of the decade and beyond.

“Our exploration program at Nkosuo has returned impressive results that demonstrate this prospect’s potential to add to Edikan’s mine life, with further successful drilling.

“We are particularly encouraged by similarities between the Nkosuo deposit and the Fobinso and Abnabna deposits, which we’ve already successfully developed, mined and processed at Edikan.

“While we are working towards completing a maiden mineral resource estimate for Nkosuo in the first half of CY2022, we intend to continue exploring on the Agyakusu, Agyakusu-DML and Domenase exploration licence areas, all of which are under option to Perseus and all of which are located within trucking distance of our Edikan mill.”

Exploration target

Results available to date from the Nkosuo drilling confirm the previously declared potential for an exploration target of 10 to 15 million tonnes grading 0.9 to 1.1 g/t gold for 275,000 to 500,000 ounces contained gold.

Current indications are that the bulk of this resource will be at depths shallower than 150 metres.

This exploration target was estimated to enable an early assessment of the discovery’s potential to add to Edikan’s mine life.

The potential quantity and grade of the exploration target is conceptual in nature and therefore is an approximation. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in estimation of a mineral resource.

Next steps

➢ Drilling now underway at Nkosuo will focus on extending 80 x 80 metres coverage to the southern limits of the granite, completing the 40 x 40 metres infill coverage and commencing systematic infill to 40 x 20 metres to support a MRE to be undertaken in the June 2022 quarter;

➢ Metallurgical test-work has commenced and Perseus will complete geotechnical drilling to evaluate ore reserve potential early in the September quarter of 2022;

➢ In anticipation that this work will lead to a positive outcome, the company is in the process of exercising its option over the Agyakusu permit and has completed some baseline studies to meet the requirements of the ESIA process; and

➢ Exploration more broadly at Edikan will investigate high-order prospects on the adjacent Agyakusu DML and Domenase permits where soil geochemical sampling has identified strong gold-in-soil anomalies associated with mineralised granites.

Story by ProactiveInvestors