Iamgold makes discovery at Karita project in Guinea

Iamgold (TSX: IMG; NYSE: IAG) has confirmed a new grassroots exploration discovery at its Karita gold project in northeastern Guinea.

The project sits along a portion of West Africa’s Senegal-Mali Shear Zone, 8 km south of the company’s Boto gold project and 3 km north of its Diakha-Siribaya project.

The company reported assays from 16 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes totalling 1,839 metres that were completed as part of its 2019 drill program.

Highlights include 13 metres grading 2.8 grams gold per tonne starting from a depth of 37 metres in hole 19-001; 29 metres grading 2.96 grams gold per tonne from nine metres in hole 19-006; 16 metres grading 3.17 grams gold per tonne from 40 metres in hole 19-009; 22 metres grading 2.27 grams gold per tonne from 20 metres in hole 19-010; and 21 metres grading 9.01 grams gold per tonne from 53 metres in hole 19-011.

Iamgold said in a statement that drilling intersected “multiple, wide zones of mineralization within altered metasedimentary units,” as it had at the company’s nearby Boto and Diakha-Siribaya projects.

The company started a reconnaissance geology and termite mound geochemical sampling program over its 100-sq.-km. Karita permit in 2017, and identified a gold geochemical anomaly over a strike length of nearly 2 kilometres. The anomaly was similar to that observed to be associated with the deposits at Boko and Diakha-Siribaya.

The 2019 drill program was designed to evaluate the anomaly and involved wide-spaced lines of RC drilling over a 1.6-km strike length of the anomaly. Drilling confirmed the presence of multiple zones of wide intervals of mineralization, and the style of the mineralization and associated alteration seems similar to Iamgold’s other deposits in the region.

Results of the drilling program will be compiled and integrated with data from Iamgold’s Boto and Diakha-Siribaya gold projects to guide future drilling programs that will help define the extent of the mineralization and evaluate the resource potential of the new discovery. The drilling program will include twinning RC holes with diamond drill holes to confirm the widths and orientation of mineralized intervals and help establish the structural and geological characteristics of the mineralizing system.

At press time, Iamgold’s shares were trading at $4.75 with a 52-week trading range of $3.08 to $5.55. The company has 468 million common shares outstanding for a $2.22-billion market capitalization.