The Northern Miner article July 9,2014A couple of interesting things in the article.
One is that IAMGold has stockpiled enough fuel on site so that the drills can start up immediately after the ground firms up after the rainy season. That way they don't have to wait for the river to recede to bring the fuel trucks in. Obviously, they are very anxious to get as much drilling done as possible this year.
The other interesting thing is that, according to Cumming, the competition to get land in this area is a lot higher than it was when they first assembled the Siribaya permits. That's pretty bullish for potential buyers of the Merrex properties. Shareholders may be rewarded sooner than later.
Merrex Gold and Iamgold report 'game-changing' discovery at Siribaya
2014-07-09
What was until very recently characterized as a very strong gold geochemical anomaly at the Siribaya gold project in Mali is now "a significant new gold discovery with multiple zones of gold mineralization," according to joint-venture partners Merrex Gold (TSXV: MXI) and Iamgold Corp. (TSX: IMG; NYSE: IAG).
About 80% or forty-one of the fifty-two reverse circulation drill holes (5,211 metres) completed at the Diakha anomaly so far this year have returned significant gold assays, and most of the holes were only drilled to a depth of 100 metres.
Assay highlights include 34 metres of 3.22 grams gold per tonne and 16 metres of 2.06 grams gold per tonne in hole 445; 30 metres of 2.58 grams gold in hole 429; 26 metres of 3.03 grams gold in hole 421; and 10 metres of 3.88 grams gold in hole 441.
Diakha is situated in the western-most part of the 910 sq. km Siribaya exploration concession and is just a few kilometres south along strike from Iamgold Corp.'s Boto gold discovery in Senegal and the Fekola deposit B2Gold Corp. (TSX: BTO; NYSE: BTG) recently acquired in its merger with Australia-listed Papillon Resources.
John Cumming, Merrex's executive vice president, chief financial officer and a member of its board of directors, says that while this part of Western Mali has flown under the radar a little bit, news of the Diakha discovery, along with developments at Boto and the Fekola acquisition suggest that "there's something pretty exciting going on there."
Merrex closed an option agreement in December 2008 with Iamgold to earn a 50% interest in the project, and Iamgold completed its expenditure commitments at the end of December 2011. This year the partners have budgeted a total of US$2.13 million for exploration and Merrex's share of the bill is due in December.
The primary objective is to test priority targets identified by geochemical termite sampling, such as Diakha, and the greatest emphasis will be placed on targets within the western permit area of Kambaya, while the company further refines and prioritizes eastern targets such as Kofia and Diarinidi. "There is more drilling yet to come," Cumming says, noting that Iamgold as operator is drilling now and will continue to do so until the seasonal rains begin, and then resume once the rains let up.
Iamgold has stockpiled sufficient fuel for the drill rigs so that they can resume drilling one the ground firms up without waiting for the rivers to recede to get the fuel tankers in. The drill program will consist of both RC and diamond drilling as well as AirCore drilling and mechanized auger drilling in the eastern permit areas.
Cumming notes that Merrex initially acquired Siribaya's 910 sq. km land package in 2005 and describes it as the largest contiguous gold exploration land package in Mali. "I don't think we could have assembled a land package of this magnitude in the gold belt of Mali today," he says, explaining that while it was competitive finding ground in West Africa in 2005, it has become even more so today.
The Siribaya project currently has an indicated resource of 4.05 million tonnes grading 2.34 grams gold per tonne for 303,900 oz. of contained gold and an inferred resource of 4.32 million tonnes grading 2.17 grams gold for 301,400 oz. of contained gold. The resource estimate was calculated using a cut-off grade of 0.5 gram gold per tonne.
- See more at: https://www.northernminer.com/news/merrex-gold-and-iamgold-report-game-changing-discovery-at-siribaya/1003151133/?&er=NA#sthash.dTyTBG1l.dpuf