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Since listing on the ASX in early 2018, Tietto Minerals Ltd has Beyond the release of the PFS, Tietto has no plans to stop the drill rigs turn-
added 1.5 moz to the resource base for its Abujar gold project in ing with another major programme potentially equal to this year’s effort
Cote d’Ivoire, from more than 42,000m of drilling. also on the agenda for 2021.
With some 55,000m of diamond drilling to be fed into the next update – due Tietto has so far been unaffected by the global COVID-19 pandemic and
at the end of the September quarter – Tietto is widely expected to unveil a Wang – who was assessing projects in Liberia at the time of the Ebola out-
sizeable uplift to Abujar’s existing resource of 2.2 moz. break in 2014 – said strategic pre-planning had allowed the company to con-
Research firms Hartleys Ltd and Argonaut are among those confident Ti- tinue drilling this year despite the widespread shutdowns occurring in Cote
etto will soon report a resource of more than 3 moz gold for Abujar, but d’Ivoire and elsewhere in the world.
none are more convinced than company’s founder and managing director “We decided to take very proactive measures before the first COVID-19 case
Caigen Wang. was confirmed in Ivory Coast,” Wang said. “We are stockpiling the camp for
“We are almost doubling the metres of drilling which delivered the 2.2 moz two months in advance with fuel, food and general medicines, as well as all
resource so that is giving us good confidence the next resource update will the spare parts and consumables needed to continue drilling.
deliver another big increase,” Wang said. “If the camp needs to be isolated from the rest of the world, we have the
“Artisanal workings, as well as our fundamental and systematic exploration capacity to operate standalone for two
of the project, have established multiple prospects for resource definition. months at a time, but while transporta-
We have also been drilling over 7,500m per month which has given us excel- tion is still available we are continuing to
lent capacity to define a very large resource.” supply logistics and maintain our very
Tietto’s drilling efficiency has been the hallmark of its successful ability to high level of stockpiles.”
freely add ounces to its resource base over the past 2.5 years. The five dia- Earlier this year Tietto appointed RPM-
mond drill rigs which have been turning at Abujar since the start of the year Global to oversee the company’s ESG
are all owned and operated by the Perth-based company. work programme at Abjuar. Ivorian
“We try to stretch our drilling dollars as far as possible,” Wang said. “The environmental consultancy Envitech
SARL is currently also undertaking ESIA
average cost of our drilling is only $US35/m.” field studies which are required for the
Contained within the existing resource at Abujar (45.5mt @ 1.5 g/t gold for successful grant for a mining licence.
2.15 moz) is the main AG deposit (34.3mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 1.81 moz, includ- Tietto expects its progress to be close-
ing a “high-grade core” of 19.3mt @ 2.2 g/t gold for 1.38 moz) and the satel- ly followed by the market given the
lite APG deposit (11.2mt @ 1 g/t gold for 350,000oz). heightened interest in the West African
Both deposits are hosted on a prospective 1,114sq km ground package lo- gold sector, but Wang insisted the com-
cated about 30km from Daloa, the third largest city in Cote d’Ivoire. To date, pany’s focus remained on achieving
Tietto has identified a 70km-long strike length, of which less than 10% has its near-term goals of rapid resource
been thoroughly explored. growth and project development in a
The upcoming resource update paves the way for Tietto to complete and bid to become the Ivory Coast’s next
release a PFS on Abujar early next year. Underpinning that study is recent standalone gold producer.
independent metallurgical test work which demonstrated the potential for “We believe Ivory Coast is the best Winners are grinners:
low-cost ore processing, including high gold recoveries at coarse grind sizes gold investment destination in West Tietto executive director Mark
ranging from 96% (180 microns) to 98% (106 microns) for fresh ore. The Africa,” he said.
company has engaged reputable engineering consultants Mintrex Pty Ltd “There are so many benefits, from the Strizek and country manager Fred
to manage the metallurgy and plant design for the PFS. technical and geological potential to Yao N’Kanza celebrate after the
“The recoveries were within our expectations, but the simplicity of the pro- the stability of the political and fiscal company was declared winner of
cessing was much better than we initially thought,” Wang said. regimes, and the market has started the Junior Investment Battlefield
“We have been able to move very fast with the PFS because we have a very to recognise the reputation for devel- competition at this year’s Mining
big resource base, excellent metallurgy and fantastic infrastructure already opment of several gold mines in the Indaba in Cape Town
in place with bitumen roads and power lines running through the tene- country.”
ments. Our major deposit also has no residential housing or people in the
vicinity which ensures we can move very easily into digging up the pit.”

“exploration upside is very much evident 0.60
along strike and at depth, where underground
potential could lie.”
Paul Howard, Hartleys 0.50

0.40

FebruAry 2 - 13M @ 3.1 g/T MArCH 10 - 6M @ 17.5 g/T MArCH 24 - 10M @ 12.09 g/T APrIL 2 - 1M @ 53.49 g/T APrIL 23 - 1M @ 21.24 g/T MAy 7 - 5M @ 14.24 g/T JuNe 3 - 1M @ 24.38 g/T JuNe 9 - 5M @ 17.22 g/T JuNe 25 - 1M @ 64.3 g/T JuLy 2 - 3M @ 17.16 g/T 0.30

0.20

0.10 SHAre PrICe
DrILLINg reSuLTS 2020