Cora Gold is moving the Sanankoro Gold Project in Mali closer to construction, with drilling, permitting, engineering and financing work progressing in parallel.
Recent drilling at Zone B has returned a strong intercept of 34 metres at 6.78 grams per tonne of gold, including nine metres at almost 24 grams per tonne. Importantly, the result came from beneath the existing resource pit shell. That raises the possibility that mineralisation extends beyond the area currently included in the resource model. Further successful drilling could support additional ounces and potentially influence the future mine plan.
Sanankoro currently has a mineral resource of around one million ounces of gold, with the existing development plan focused mainly on oxide material. Cora is also testing deeper mineralisation, where fresh rock becomes more important.
The company has already encountered gold at depth, and the current drilling programme is designed to establish whether these deeper zones can add meaningful resources below the planned open pits. If they can, Sanankoro could gain further mine-life flexibility beyond the current reserve life of about 10 years.
Cora has completed around 10,600 metres of its planned 12,000 metre 2026 drilling programme. Results are still pending from Selin, Zone A, Zone C and Dakounkoura South.
Those results should provide a clearer picture of whether the current resource can be expanded and whether additional mineralised zones can contribute to the longer-term development case.
Permitting remains the main step before construction can begin.
The Sanankoro II exploration permit, which hosts most of the project’s resources, has already been renewed. Cora is still awaiting renewals for the Bokoro II and Kodiou permits.
Once those are in place, the company plans to reshape the project area so the main resources and planned infrastructure sit within a single 100 square kilometre mining permit application.
That mining permit is the key regulatory milestone. Securing it would allow Cora to move from project preparation towards construction.
Cora Gold Ltd (LON:CORA), together with its subsidiaries, explores for and develops mineral projects in West Africa. The company primarily explores for gold deposits. Its flagship project is the Sanankoro Gold project located in the Yanfolila Gold Belt, Southern Mali.
