en.Wedoany.com Reported - Awalé Resources (TSXV: ARIC) saw its share price rise 8% to C$0.80 on the TSX Venture Exchange, giving the company a market capitalization of C$93.8 million, after reporting the latest drilling results from the BBM target at its Odienné gold-copper project in Côte d'Ivoire. The results show that the high-grade mineralized core has extended below the open-pit resource, indicating potential for underground operations. The stock has traded in a range of C$0.48 to C$1.18 over the past 12 months.
The Odienné project is operated as a joint venture between Awalé and Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM), located approximately 600 kilometers northwest of the country's financial capital, Abidjan. Awalé reported on Monday that key hole BBDD-31 returned 7 meters grading 7.04 g/t gold, 0.16% copper, 0.88 g/t silver, and 94 ppm molybdenum from a depth of 385 meters, including a higher-grade interval of 36 meters grading 1.51 g/t gold, 0.47% copper, 2.14 g/t silver, and 391 ppm molybdenum. Another key hole, BBDD-30, intersected 46 meters grading 1.93 g/t gold, 0.39% copper, 1.78 g/t silver, and 444 ppm molybdenum from a depth of 364 meters, including a rich zone of 17 meters grading 2.93 g/t gold, 0.45% copper, 2.01 g/t silver, and 791 ppm molybdenum. This hole also returned a 38-meter interval grading 2.24 g/t gold, 0.46% copper, 2.09 g/t silver, and 529 ppm molybdenum.
Awalé CEO Andrew Chubb stated that the first drill holes beneath the open pit hit mineralization at their expected locations and returned the highest gold grades ever drilled at the deposit, confirming that the high-grade core continues at depth and reinforcing the company's view that the mineralized system has greater potential. These two holes are the first drilled in a 12-hole program designed to explore the area below the BBM core, which extends downward to a distance of 600 meters. Seven drill rigs are currently operating at the project site.
Awalé just received a C$14.2 million (US$10.1 million) investment last week from West African mid-tier producer Predictive Discovery (ASX, TSX: PDI). These new drilling results could help significantly expand the target and bring the resource base of the Odienné project to the scale of larger peers in Côte d'Ivoire. Currently, the Odienné project hosts 32.4 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 1.33 g/t gold and 0.33% copper, containing 1.4 million ounces of gold and 93,000 tonnes of copper, primarily distributed across the BBM, Charger, and Empire deposits, with the BBM deposit constituting the bulk of the resource. Under the joint venture agreement with Newmont, Awalé manages exploration activities within the joint venture area, while Newmont provides funding support.
