Announcement • 5h
Stellar Africagold Announces 10,000 Meter Auger Drill Program At Zuénoula Gold Project in Côte D’Ivoire
Stellar AfricaGold Inc. announced a 10,000 meter auger drill program at the Stellar-MetalsGrove Joint Venture Zuénoula Gold Project, Côte d’Ivoire. Joint venture operator MetalsGrove Mining Ltd. has consolidated the exploration targets at the Zuénoula Permit into four principal prospects - Fifty-Five, Central, South East and South West Prospects following ongoing technical review and field verification of multiple gold anomalies. A two-rig, two-stage 10,000-meter auger drilling program is planned to test gold anomalous clusters at the Fifty-Five, Central and South East Prospects, with mobilisation and commencement targeted for end June. Recent soil geochemistry interpretation has defined a total of 7 Potential Drill Targets within the consolidated 4 prospects on the permit. These targets will be progressively refined through ongoing infill soil sampling and auger drilling before drilled by Aircore/Reverse Circulation (AC/RC) or diamond drilling (DD) from late 2026. Infill soil sampling programs continue across all four prospects at varying grid spacings, with results continuing to enhance target definition and prioritisation for drill testing. The Stellar-MetalsGrove Zuénoula Gold Project is a joint venture exploration project between Stellar’s Ivorian subsidiary Aucrest SARL and MetalsGrove Mining Ltd.’s Ivorian subsidiary MetalsGrove CDI Pty Ltd. to advance Stellar’s 395.78 square kilometer early-stage exploration permit called Zuénoula in Côte d’Ivoire. Pursuant to the joint venture agreement MetalsGrove, the project operator, may earn up to a 50% interest in the Zuénoula Gold Project by incurring USD 3,000,000 in exploration expenditures and up to an 80% interest in the Zuénoula Gold Project by incurring a total of USD 6,000,000 in exploration expenditures. Multiple northeast-trending gold anomalous trends have been identified. The joint venture operator has consolidated the exploration targets at the Zuénoula Permit into four principal prospects following ongoing technical review and field verification of multiple gold anomalies identified from completed various surface soil sampling programs to date. The Fifty-Five Prospect now incorporates the original Fifty-Five Prospect and its northeastern extension, while the South East Prospect combines the former Konezra Prospect with the South East Prospect. The Central Prospect and South West Prospect remain unchanged from previous reporting. A two-rig, two-stage, 10,000 m auger drilling program within the Fifty-Five, Central and South East Prospects has been designed to test the most significant gold anomalous clusters identified. Stage 1 will comprise approximately 5,000m of drilling on a nominal 400m × 50m drill pattern, followed by Stage 2 infill drilling on a 250m × 25m spacing, subject to the results obtained from the initial phase. Auger drilling is planned to an average depth of approximately five metres to test the mineralisation potential from the upper saprolite horizon. Results from ongoing soil infill programs across all three auger target areas will be incorporated into final drill planning to further refine and optimise drill line locations prior to commencement. The two-rig mobilisation and commencement date is scheduled for end June 2026. Interpretation of the current soil geochemistry dataset has increased the definition of potential drill targets to 7, each exhibiting kilometre-scale prospective strike length. These targets will continue to be refined through ongoing infill soil sampling and auger drilling programs, with the objective of defining coherent bedrock-related mineralisation suitable for follow-up AC/RC or DD from late 2026. Infill soil sampling continues at varying grid spacings across all four prospects at the Zuénoula Permit. To date, assay results have been received for 1,617 soil samples, while a further 1,755 samples are awaiting laboratory analysis. An additional 306 samples are scheduled for collection. The Company has planned the following next phases of exploration programs to advance the identification of new potential drill targets and refine existing potential drill targets for drill testing: Auger drilling across 3 Prospects: 10,000 meters in 2 stages. Soil Sampling: Fifty-Five Prospect NE: 200m200m (pending sampling), South East Prospect: 200m200m (pending assay results), Fifty-Five Prospect: 200050m (pending assay results), Central Prospect: 200050m (pending assay results), Five-Five Prospect East: 200200m (pending assay results), South West Prospect: 400m400m (pending assay results). No drilling has been undertaken on Zuénoula PR-750. All soil samples collected on Zuénoula PR-750 have been analysed for gold by fire assay at Bureau Veritas laboratory in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. SOIL SAMPLING STAGES: Stage 1: Initial, permit-wide, broad-spaced soil sampling on 1000m x 1000m grid. Stage 2: Gold anomalous clusters and trends defined by multiple anomalous soil samples (+20ppb Au) are then infilled with soil samples collected on 400m x 400m grid. Stage 3: Coherent gold soil anomalies are then infilled with soil samples collected on 200m x 200m grid. Stage 4: Higher density 200m x 50m soil sampling to sharpen definition of gold soil anomalies. Stage 5: Augering and trenching of coherent gold soil anomalies. Stage 6: Drill testing of gold soil and auger anomalies. SOIL SAMPLING PROCEDURES: MGA has contracted the experienced consulting group SEMS Exploration Services (SEMS) to conduct all soil sampling. Up to four sampling crews may be active at any one time. The MGA Exploration Manager was onsite at the start of the field program to instruct the sampling crew on the Standard Sampling Procedure required by MGA. MGA provided SEMS Exploration Services with an Excel table listing the designated sample point locations using WGS-84 UTM zone 29N coordinates. Each soil sample is collected from within 20 metres of the designated sample point, with the actual sample point then recorded. At each sample point: 1) the organic rich soil is brushed away, 2) a 40cm deep hole dug and the sample collected by taking a channel-cut along the bottom 20cm of the hole, 3) 1000g of the minus 2mm sieved fraction of each sample is collected from the sample point, 4) gold is determined by fire assay (LDL 2ppb). Duplicate samples are collected every 20th sample, certified reference material (CRM) inserted every 20th sample, and blanks inserted every 20th sample. Samples are stored at the secure SEMS field compound in Zuénoula prior to transport to Bureau Veritas in Abidjan of gold analysis.