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Doug Bright
Aurum Resources’ flagship Boundiali gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa, seems to be the gift that keeps on giving, after the company tabled an impressive resource upgrade. The uplift boosted the project’s total combined resource by 19 per cent to a mighty 125.1 million tonnes at an average grade of one gram per tonne (g/t) for a total of 3.84 million ounces of gold.
Management says the upgrade resulted from a deliberate, targeted drilling campaign focused primarily on its established BST1, BMT1, and BMT3 deposits to convert inferred resources to the higher-confidence indicated resource category. Infill drilling at the three targets converted 0.62 million ounces of gold from the inferred to the indicated resource category.
Overall, the update added 630,000 ounces, or 37 per cent, to total combined indicated resources across the project, bringing it to a colossal 71.5 million tonnes at an average grade of 1g/t gold for 2.33 million ounces of the metal.
Resource conversion is a crucial step for any aspiring mine developer, as indicated resources are the only category that can be legitimately converted into ore reserves to support feasibility studies and project economics.
‘We have added an entirely new deposit to the MRE inventory. BMT2 is the seventh deposit to carry a Mineral Resource at Boundiali.’
Aurum Resources managing director Dr Caigen Wang
The company says the additional indicated gold ounces will support expansion of its upcoming ore reserve update as part of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) targeted for later this year.
Outside the three key target areas, Aurum’s latest resource estimate also includes an inferred maiden resource for its BMT2 deposit, in the far north of its 80-per cent-held BM joint venture area, weighing in at 4.4 million tonnes grading 0.9g/t gold for 130,000 ounces of the gleaming metal. Management says this brings BMT2 into the fold as the seventh deposit added to the Boundiali inventory and serves as a reminder that the mineralised belt keeps delivering.
The new BMT2 numbers help swell Boundiali’s total combined inferred resource to a massive 53.6 million tonnes at an updated average grade of 0.9g/t gold, for 1.5 million ounces of gold.
Aurum Resources managing director Dr Caigen Wang said: “This MRE update represents another step change at our Boundiali Gold Project”... “This was a deliberate drilling campaign. We directed our rigs at BST1, BMT1 and BMT3 to convert Inferred Resources into Indicated, so we can convert Indicated Resources into Ore Reserves. This plan has delivered, and we expect it to support growth in our Ore Reserve update as part of the DFS later this year.”
The company’s total combined group resource base, including its nearby 1.16 million ounce Napié gold project 100km southeast of Boundiali, now stands at an eye-watering five million ounces of gold.
Aurum attributes its rapid resource growth at Boundiali to its unique operational model. The company owns and operates its own fleet of 16 diamond drill rigs, which it says has allowed it to expand the project from a greenfield discovery to a 3.84-million-ounce asset in just under three years.
With all of its rigs busy, Aurum is still in the midst of an expanded 150,000-metre drilling program for the 2026 calendar year, aimed at further resource growth and increasing confidence across its deposits.
The Boundiali project sits in the central north of Côte d’Ivoire, within the same extensive and richly endowed greenstone belt that hosts other nearby major gold mines, including Resolute Mining’s 11.5 million ounce Syama operation in Mali and Perseus Mining’s 1.4 million ounce Sissingué mine, close to the nation’s northern border with Mali.
The company says it remains well-funded with more than A$95 million in cash as of the end of September, allowing it to run drilling, studies and permitting activities concurrently.
With environmental approvals granted in May and a prefeasibility study and maiden ore reserve delivered in June, Aurum’s focus is now on securing mining licences and completing a DFS ahead of a final investment decision, aiming at first gold production in the first half of 2028.
From a greenfields discovery to a 3.84 million ounce project in less than three years is no mean feat. And with a five million ounce global resource already in its back pocket, a war chest of A$95 million in cash and a fleet of drill rigs going full tilt, Aurum appears to be on a clear and rapid trajectory towards becoming West Africa’s next gold producer.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au