KEFI Minerals (LON:KEFI), the gold exploration and development company with projects in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has reported encouraging results at the start of the scout drilling programme at the Company’s Hawiah Exploration Licence in Saudi Arabia:
· assay results for the first drill hole have been received and HWD_001 intercepted 15.8 metres of massive sulphide from 150.75 depth (true width 8 metres) at 1.2% copper, 0.51% zinc, 0.51g/t gold and 9.1g/t silver;
· additional holes, HWD_003 and HWD_004, collared on an east-west profile line 250 metres south of HWD_001, have successfully intercepted mineralisation with 8.6 metres width (true width 6.0 metres) from 38 metre depth and 16.2 metres width (true width 11.0 metres) from 267.5 metre depth respectively. Assay results are pending for these holes; and
· HWD_002 targeted the near-surface gold-bearing oxidised zone. Assay results are pending for this hole.
These additional drill intercepts push the extent of the known massive sulphide mineralisation down to a depth of 240 metres below surface. Visual inspection of the drill core in HWD_003 and HWD_004 indicates that sulphide mineralisation presents in a similar fashion to HWD_001.
These early encouraging results represent just the start of the planned 2,500 metre scout drilling programme and confirm that the Volcanic Massive Sulphide (“VMS”) mineralisation is the source of the previously reported 5.5km long geophysical anomaly, and that the mineralisation is copper, gold and zinc bearing.
This builds on the previous exploration work that demonstrated that the Hawiah ridgeline is enriched in gold at surface, with potential for copper-gold-zinc at depth. Geophysical surveys identified a strong and continuous anomaly under the ridge that remains open both along strike and down dip.
In due course, the programme will test three key target zones:
· the near-surface oxidised zone for gold;
· the massive sulphide at depth for copper-gold-zinc; and
· the potential stockwork zone for a larger-scale development for copper-gold-zinc.
