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- African-focused gold explorer Predictive Discovery (PDI) is set to expand exploration at its Bankan Project in Guinea
- A 10,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling program is largely targeting extensions to known mineralised zones
- Power auger drilling, aeromagnetics and electrical geophysical surveys will also continue to explore the entire 350-square-kilometre Bankan project area
- The company will mobilise a second drill rig in February to expedite a maiden mineral resource, slated for mid-next year
- Predictive Discovery has been trading mostly flat around 5.8 cents
African-focused gold explorer Predictive Discovery (PDI) is set to expand exploration at its Bankan Project in Guinea.
Next phase
A 10,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling program is largely aimed at extending known mineralised zones.
A large multipurpose rig is being mobilised to site after a slight delay due to customs issues getting the rig across the Mali-Guinea border.
Drilling is now set to start in the second week of December.
The first focus will be testing the down-dip extent of the NE Bankan gold deposit, which has already returned a number of thick, high-grade, near-surface intercepts including 46 metres at 6.6 grams per tonne (g/t) gold starting from just four metres below ground.
Particular attention will be on a thick, west-dipping panel of gold mineralisation at the western edge of the deposit which returned a best intercept of 55 metres at 2.9g/t gold from a depth of 97 metres.
From there, the rig will move on to test further depth and strike extensions, as well as infilling previous shallow drilling to test for continuity through the near-surface oxide layer.
Newly discovered mineralisation to the west will also be probed further after positive results from a power auger program.
Predictive Managing Director Paul Roberts said Bankan is shaping up to be something big.
“We are highly enthusiastic about our NE Bankan and Bankan Creek discoveries and consider that — with a gold system now defined from surface at NE Bankan over a strike length of 1.3 kilometres and significant untested potential in all directions at Bankan Creek — it has all the hallmarks of an emerging new major gold project in West Africa,” Paul said.
Next steps
The company has been targeting the largely unexplored zone between the NE Bankan and Bankan Creek deposits.
A power auger program has drilled over 2000 metres across almost 160 holes in the hope of turning up more anomalism of the kind that helped identify the known Bankan deposits.
The auger program will continue to test large swathes of unexplored land across Bankan for further possible deposits.
Combined with aeromagnetics and electrical geophysical surveys, Predictive is aiming to explore the entire 350-square-kilometre Bankan project area.
Paul Roberts believes the company is on track to deliver a mineral resource estimate next year.
“We are strongly focused on delivering a maiden resource in mid-2021. With a cash balance of over $14 million, we are exceptionally well funded as we head into our next phase of RC and diamond drilling,” Paul said.
Phase two drilling is expected to continue until April or May next year, with a second rig to be mobilised in February to facilitate the resource drill-out.
Metallurgical testwork is also slated to commence early in the March quarter.
Predictive Discovery has been trading mostly flat around 5.8 cents up to 12:40 pm AEDT.
