(Alliance News) - Altus Strategies PLC said Thursday it has defined a "potentially significant" new prospect at its Diba gold project in western Mali.
Altus said the mine is located about 13 kilometres south of them multi-million ounce Sadiola gold mine, which is operated by South African gold miner AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.
The prospect is defined by a 1.2 kilometre-long discontinuous soil anomaly. Altus said the it is located 500 metres along the strike of the "historical" Diba resource area.
Historical drill intersections at Diba include 5.02 grammes per tonne over 20 metres and 5.36 grammes per tonne over 13 metres. Altus noted "numerous" undrilled prospects defined at Diba "indicate considerable discovery potential".
"We are very encouraged by the discovery of the Diba SW prospect, which is located just 500 metres to the south west and directly along strike of the historic Diba resource area," said Chief Executive Steven Poulton.
Poulton continued: "Based on the discovery of Diba SW, we have reinterpreted the historical geochemical, geophysical and topographical data at Diba. This work has defined at least three further potential prospects, increasing the total number of new prospects at Diba to six. Given the number and potential scale of these prospects, we believe the opportunity to increase the size of the historic resource at Diba is considerable."
Poulton said Diba is a "highly strategic asset, with its located near Sadiola.
"The adjacent Sadiola mine is reportedly for sale and is believed to have exhausted its oxide feed. However, while we recognise that Diba may be a potential source of future oxide feed for Sadiola, we also consider it has significant standalone oxide and growth potential," added Poulton.
Shares in Altus Strategies were 0.5% higher in London on Thursday afternoon at 4.77 pence each.