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Aurum Resources expands West African presence with new exploration deal in Côte d’Ivoire

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By Imelda Cotton - 
Aurum Resources ASX AUE Boundiali North purchase Cote d'Ivoire
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Aurum Resources (ASX: AUE) has signed an earn-in agreement with West African company Geb & Nut Resources Sarl to earn a maximum 70% interest in an exploration tenement to be named “Boundiali North”.

The tenement is located over 208.87 square kilometers to the north of Aurum’s existing BD prospect at the Boundiali gold project in Côte d’Ivoire.

BD is the second target to be tested in an ongoing diamond drilling program at the project and is currently under renewal in accordance with the region’s mining code.

Staged agreement

Under Stage 1 of the agreement, Aurum will earn a 35% interest in Boundiali North by spending (through subsidiary PlusOr Global Pty Ltd, acquired in November) $1.81 million on exploration within 36 months of the license being granted.

Stage 2 will see the company boost its equity to 51% by spending an additional $3.77m within 60 months of license grant, while Stage 3 allows for a maximum 70% interest upon completion of a pre-feasibility study for Boundiali North.

Upon the granting of a mining license, the ownership structure for Boundiali North will be shared between Aurum (70% equity), Geb & Nut Resources (20%), and the Ivorian government (10%).

Aurum is required to make an initial cash payment of approximately $45,000 to Geb & Nut Resources within the next 10 working days.

Local knowledge invaluable

Aurum managing Director Dr Caigen Wang welcomed the partnership with Geb & Nut Resources.

“This marks a significant step in expanding our footprint at Boundiali,” he said.

“Our existing knowledge of the region’s geology and mineralisation will be invaluable as we explore this tenement.”

“We are eager to unlock the potential of this highly promising tenement which strengthens our belief in the potential for discovering a multi-million-ounce gold resource at Boundiali.”

Boundiali location

The Boundiali project is located within the same greenstone belt as the 11.5 million ounce Syama and 1Moz Sissingue gold mines to the north, the 5Moz Tongon mine to the north-east and the 4.5Moz Koné project to the south.

Dr Wang said the company was on track to deliver an inaugural resource estimate by year-end.