Teranga discovers new zone at Golden Hill

The latest exploration results from Teranga Gold’s (TSX: TGZ) Golden Hill project located within the Hounde greenstone belt in Burkina Faso indicate a new discovery at the Ma Jonction prospect and have returned high-grade, near-surface gold intercepts.

Drill highlights from Ma Jonction, located between the previously-defined Ma Main and Ma North zones, include 8 metres of 6.4 grams gold per tonne starting at 10 metres, and 3 metres of 44.11 grams gold starting at 33 meters.

Other intercepts of note from the greater Ma complex include 7 metres of 17.75 grams gold starting at 164 metres from Ma Main and 4 metres of 46.05 grams gold starting at 37 metres from Ma North.

The C-Zone prospect returned 7 metres of 32.67 grams gold starting at 46 metres.

The company started drilling at Golden Hill in the second half of last year. The work was focused on nine targets, with four located within the Ma structural area.

“We are excited about the results we are seeing from the current drill program, which is intended to increase resources as we move the project through a preliminary economic assessment and into feasibility,” Paul Chawrun, Teranga’s chief operating officer says in a press release. “In addition to another high-grade, near-surface discovery, the drill results reported today demonstrate positive continuity, grade, width, and extended mineralization in several zones.”

Teranga plans to update resources for the property and apply for a mine license for Golden Hill in the third quarter. Drilling will continue in the first half of this year, with five additional zones targeted. Additional early-stage engineering and metallurgical test work are ongoing to advance the project towards a preliminary economic assessment.

Open-pit resources for Golden Hill stand at 6.4 million tonnes grading 2.02 grams gold for a total of 415,000 oz. gold in the measured and indicated category, with additional inferred resources of 11.9 million tonnes at 1.68 grams gold for a total of 644,000 ounces.

The majority of the resources are contained within the Ma and Peksou/C-zone deposits.

Teranga has two operating open-pit mines in Africa: Sabodala in Senegal and Wahgnion in Burkina Faso. Prior to the Massawa project acquisition, announced in December, the company had been targeting production of 300,000 oz. to 350,000 oz. gold in 2020. It expects to start processing Massawa ore at the Sabodala plant in the second half of the year.

At press time, Teranga shares were trading at $7.14, with a 52-week trading range of $2.97 to $7.45. The company has 167.4 million shares outstanding (pro-forma after the Massawa transaction closing) for a $768.2-million market capitalization.