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AFRIcA FocUs

Predictably busy

espite being grounded in Perth, Pre- to the ongoing work. has only penetrated to 50m and remains
Ddictive Discovery Ltd managing direc- With several thousands of metres to be open, and the abundancy of anomalism
tor Paul Roberts has never been busier – drilled between now and the end of Q1 and artisanal workings on its other permits
not that he is complaining. 2021, Predictive will likely finish this cam- [Kankan and Koundian].
Investor interest in Predictive has in- paign in a strong position for compiling a “Our cursory review of the aircore and
tensified since mid-April when the unher- maiden resource estimate by this time next auger results to date suggests that there
alded explorer reported a breakthrough year. could already be 500,000 oz @ 1.5 g/t gold
intersection of 46m @ 6.58 g/t gold from “Most of the work that we’re doing is driv- across North-East Bankan and the nearby
4m (including 10m @ 26.52 g/t from 34m) ing towards that objective,” Roberts said. Bankan Creek prospect. Based on prob-
at the North-East Bankan prospect, part of “What we’re doing initially is getting an abilities and the success to date, we see
the company’s 100%-owned Kaninko pro- understanding of the system, going rea- 1 moz as being likely defined in the near
ject in Guinea. sonably fast on the oxide because it’s term, however, the company will need to
The spectacular aircore drilling result relatively straightforward, but going slower demonstrate further mineralisation in ex-
trigged a 733% increase in Predic- cess of that uncovered to date, and/
tive’s share price – the biggest sin- or make discoveries in new areas of
gle-day rise by an ASX-listed stock in exploration within its Guinea portfo-
the past three years – with the mar- lio, if it is to reach our price target [of
ket maintaining a watchful eye on the 14c/share].”
company ever since. Over the next 12 months, Roberts
“We’ve definitely become busier expects Predictive to ramp up ex-
and certainly I can’t recall an earlier ploration efforts at Koundian and its
time, not in recent memory anyway, other Guinean permits, while contin-
where we’ve been this busy,” Roberts uing to support JV partner Resolute
told Paydirt. Mining Ltd on activities at Ferkesse-
“People are clearly looking at us dougou North and Boundiali over the
differently. Apart from anything else, border in Cote d’Ivoire.
there’s been an enormous increase Roberts also said his company
in the liquidity of the stock, so there’s was benefitting from the heightened
a lot of attention on Predictive from interest in the gold sector, particu-
investors. People are either on board larly on the back of a series of recent
or people are thinking about getting discoveries in Australia which have
on board. captured the market’s imagination.
“The biggest issue for me is I can’t “I think the market is much warmer
go there [West Africa] for the time be- towards gold, much warmer towards
ing [due to COVID-19 travel restric- discovery, and certainly if you’re
tions], but we’ve still got a lot of activ- generating news and expanding op-
ity happening on the ground. We’ve portunity then I think the market is
had between four and five rigs oper- receptive,” he said.
ating simultaneously out there, and of “I also think that the very strong
course we haven’t been operating at West African discount that we saw
that level for a long time.” before has diminished somewhat
While Roberts has been unable to Predictive managing director Paul Roberts on site in and that’s because people can see
visit the on-site team since March, Guinea earlier this year through the whole cycle from discov-
principal geologist Aime Nganare has ery through to development and that
been leading the charge in Guinea where on the fresh rock underneath because we people can have great successes. In fact,
the company is in the middle of an aggres- don’t understand the geology and gold dis- I would say that WAF [West African Re-
sive 50,000m drilling campaign over the tribution yet. sources Ltd] has been really, really impor-
Kaninko permit. “We’re also intending to do metallurgical tant for those of us who operate in West
The company’s immediate focus is de- test work, pending our understanding of Africa, as it demonstrates that you can put
termining the extent of the surface foot- the gold distribution in the fresh rock.” together a magnificent, profitable project,
print at North-East Bankan. Since the In last month’s research report on Pre- even in Burkina Faso.
discovery hole was drilled, Predictive has dictive, Hartleys Ltd resource analyst Paul “The fact that Perseus [Mining Ltd] is
extended the known strike length of the Howard suggested the market was basing going well, Resolute has got over some
prospect by 30% to 1.3km. its valuation of the company on a possible of the problems they had with Syama…if
RC drilling to test the oxide mineralisa- 800,000oz resource for North-East Ban- you look at the producers and you see that
tion on that footprint is now under way. kan. they’re going well, then it gives you faith in
Roberts expects his company will be “The quandary for investors in Predictive the more speculative stocks at the junior
able to continue drilling at North-East Ban- is whether it has more than 800,000oz,” end.”
kan for the foreseeable future given he is Howard wrote. “This is likely given the
not aware of any upcoming seasonal re- 1.3km near-surface anomaly at North-East – Michael Washbourne
striction which might force an interruption Bankan, the fact that early stage aircore

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