Altus gets new mining licence for Diba project in Mali
Altus Strategies said on Tuesday that Mali’s Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water has issued a small-scale gold mining licence for its wholly-owned 83.1 square kilometre Korali Sud licence, containing the Diba gold project, in the west of the country.
The AIM-traded firm said Diba hosts the Diba Deposit, Diba NW and Diba Far East prospects, and is located about five kilometres west of its 100%-owned, 24 square kilometre Lakanfla gold exploration licence.
It said it had commissioned independent consulting firm Mining Plus UK of Bristol to update the mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment for the combined Diba and Lakanfla project.
The current mineral resource estimate for the Diba deposit comprised 4,834,000 tonnes at 1.39 grams of gold per tonne for 217,000 ounces in the indicated category, and 5,479,000 tonnes at 1.06 grams per tonne for 187,000 ounces of gold in the inferred category.
It said the mining licence was granted for an initial four-year period, renewable until the deposit was depleted, and was transferable to third parties with approval from the ministry.
Altus said Diba is “strategically located” in a “world-famous” gold belt, which hosts numerous open-pit mines.
“We are delighted to have been granted a Mining Licence at our Diba gold project in western Mali,” said chief executive officer Steven Poulton.
“This endorses our royalty generation strategy of adding value to our project portfolio through de-risking and technical validation before transacting with third party developers.”
Poulton said that, with the expiry of the current exploration licence, the new mining licence would provide the company with long-term security of tenure for the project.
“This is especially important as an updated mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment for the combined Diba and Lakanfla project is underway, and is due to be published in the next three months.”
At 0902 BST, shares in Altus Strategies were down 1.64% at 57.05p.