KEFI Gold and Copper Plc (AIM: KEFI), the gold and copper exploration and development company which has focused on the Arabian-Nubian Shield since 2008, has announced an operational update for the Hawiah Copper-Gold Project in the company’s minority-owned Gold & Minerals Ltd (GMCO) joint venture.
Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, KEFI’s executive chairman, commented, “Exploration near our Hawiah copper-gold-zinc-silver deposit has quickly yielded validating results and unveiled two additional discoveries. The 65,000m Hawiah infill and expansion drilling programme is now more than 75% complete, with excellent confirmatory results. GMCO is also focused on upgrading and expanding the Al Godeyer resource (12km west of Hawiah) through diamond drilling.”
Recent drilling highlights include:
– HWD_222 intersecting 8.6m (7.5m ETW) of massive sulphide averaging 0.8% copper, 0.4% zinc, 0.5g/t gold and 8.1g/t silver from 970.2m; and
– HWD_246 intersecting 9.3m (8.4m ETW) of massive sulphide averaging 0.7% copper, 1.0% zinc, 0.6g/t gold and 10.2g/t silver from 872.7m
These intercepts have extended the vertical depth of known mineralization at Hawiah to 740m and increased the down-plunge extent of the crossroads extension lode by a further 270m.
Additionally, at the satellite Al Godeyer deposit, a second phase of drilling comprising 4,500m has recently commenced to infill and expand its maiden MRE reported in 2023, and these two drilling programmes are on track to upgrade at least 90% of the >30Mt combined MRE to the indicated resource category, forming the basis for ore reserves.
The company has also announced that earlier-stage exploration is also ongoing at other potential Hawiah satellite deposits, including at the recently announced Abu Salal discovery.
Hawiah already ranks as the third largest base-metal project in the emerging Saudi Arabian minerals sector.
Triggering of the Hawiah DFS is scheduled to occur following the availability of the updated MRE in late 2024.
Hawiah is a larger development project than the Jibal Qutman discovery and entails underground and open pit mining, coupled with technically more advanced processes to treat the polymetallic orebody comprising copper, gold, zinc, and silver. Additional metallurgical test work studies are ongoing to assess and optimize various processing and mining options.
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