(Alliance News) - Centamin PLC on Tuesday said that its eastern Egyptian desert exploration programme had yielded an "encouraging set of maiden drill results".
The Jersey-based gold producer, which has interests in Egypt, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast, said that the 3,000 square kilometre area in Egypt's Nubian Shield has never been explored with modern methods.
The three blocks contained within the area are thought to be "highly prospective", based on previously undertaken mineral mapping and satellite imaging.
The maiden drill programme was conducted near Centamin's flagship asset, the Sukari gold mine. "Significant drill intercepts" were reported at both Little Sukari and Umm Majal, and on average 3.9 grams per tonne of gold were reported across the sites.
The group said that it plans to undertake geological mapping and surveys of the area's Nugrus block prospects within the first half of 2024, and has budgeted for up to 15,000 metres of diamond core drilling at these locations. This will be conducted alongside metallurgical testing and resource estimates, which Centamin said will steer future drilling programmes.
The group will also conduct results-driven exploration at the Umrus block following soil geochemistry results in the first half of 2024.
Generative exploration will continue across eastern desert exploration sites to inform subsequent projects, involving soil geochemistry testing, rock chip sampling, and geological mapping.
Centamin's Chief Executive Officer Martin Horgan said: "Through the application of our systematic approach to assessing the geological potential of our Egyptian exploration portfolio, our team has delivered an encouraging set of maiden drill results across several targets within the Nugrus block".
"Supported by a pending new mining regulatory and fiscal regime, these results underpin Egypt's emergence as an attractive exploration jurisdiction which Centamin is uniquely positioned to leverage given our experience and long standing position in-country," he added.
Shares in Centamin were up 0.3% at 94.60 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
By Hugh Cameron, Alliance News reporter
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