Canadian gold miner Roxgold has drawn on MICROMINE’s leading exploration and 3D mine design software to accelerate exploration at the Séguéla Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. The software has helped fast-track maiden mineral resource estimates resulting in a notable increase in estimates for the total project resource.
Roxgold reported updated mineral resource estimates for the project at the end of January 2020, increasing an initial maiden estimate announced in March 2019. The new results indicate a 7% increase in the total Indicated Mineral Resources, up to 529,000 oz, with an increase in the Inferred Mineral Resources of 1,286%, from 34,000 oz to 471,000 oz.
The drilling program – which prioritised the Ancien, Agouti, and Boulder satellite deposits, and the infilling of the Antenna deposit – included 18,693 m of reverse circulation and diamond core drilling since April 2019.
Mineral resource models for Ancien, Agouti and Boulder were developed with input from Micromine’s sophisticated modelling tools – a core product in MICROMINE’s comprehensive software suite which provides integrate modelling, estimation, design, optimisation and scheduling tools.
Frank Bilki, Micromine Technical Product Manager said: “The latest software release, Micromine 2020, incorporates a dedicated Resource Estimation module which is vital during the early stages of exploration to evaluate risk, estimate resource grade and assess the feasibility of the project moving forward.”
Micromine’s extensive functionality has also been used to generate preliminary pit optimisations. The software is used to determine the most profitable open pit, within economic and metallurgical parameters, it can also be used to analyse stockpiles and costs over time.
Roxgold President and Chief Executive Officer, John Dorward said that the Séguéla Project had the potential to stand alongside Roxgold’s current operations and build a strong foundation for the company and its future. “We continue to have all hands on deck at Séguéla, with four rigs turning, and we are eagerly anticipating further results over the coming months,” he said.
The drilling program continues at Ancien, with two rigs focused on extensionary drilling to the south and at depth of the deposit, while an additional two rigs continue to focus on infilling selected areas and testing the strike limits of the Agouti and Boulder deposits.
Roxgold has identified an additional 22 highly prospective targets at Séguéla that have seen little to no historic drilling.
