Announcement • Oct 18
Xtra-Gold Announces Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for Its Kibi Gold Project in Ghana, West Africa
Xtra-Gold Resources Corp. announced the results of an updated Mineral Resource estimate on its wholly-owned Kibi Gold Project, located in the Kibi-Winneba greenstone belt, in Ghana, West Africa. The independent resource estimate, with an effective date of September 30, 2024, incorporates an additional 174 diamond core drillholes (34,737.1 m), completed by Xtra-Gold's in-house drilling crews since the previous September 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate. The new Mineral Resource encompasses initial resource estimates for the Boomerang and Twin Zone deposits in Zone 3, as well as previously-declared Mineral Resource estimates for the following eight (8) deposits: Big Bend, East Dyke, Mushroom, South Ridge, Road Cut, Double 19, Gatehouse and Gold Mountain. In aggregate, these ten (10) auriferous bodies, lying within approximately 2.7 km of each other, are estimated to contain an Indicated Mineral Resource of 1,058,200 ounces of gold and an additional Inferred Mineral Resource of 180,700 ounces of gold. The updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Kibi Gold Project disclosed herein was jointly prepared by Pivot Mining Consultants (Pty) Ltd. and Tect Geological Consulting of Johannesburg and Somerset West, South Africa, respectively. The mineral resource estimate, with an effective date of September 30, 2024, was prepared in accordance with the guidelines of the Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves set out by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM"). The present Mineral Resource encompasses initial resource estimates for the Boomerang and Twin Zone deposits, which were at an early exploration stage at the time of the 2021 Mineral Resource declaration, as well as previously-declared resource estimates for the following eight (8) deposits: Big Bend, East Dyke, Mushroom, South Ridge, Road Cut, Double 19, Gatehouse and Gold Mountain. With these ten (10) deposits, lying approximately within 2.7 km of each other, collectively estimated to contain an Indicated Mineral Resource of 1,058,200 ounces of gold based on 27,532,000 tonnes at an average grade of 1.20 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold and an additional Inferred Mineral Resource of 180,700 ounces of gold based on 5,694,000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.99 g/t gold. This new Mineral Resource estimate updates and replaces the Company's prior Mineral Resource for the Kibi Gold Project, with an effective date of September 30, 2021, enclosed in the NI 43-101 technical report entitled "Xtra-Gold Resources Corporation Kibi Gold Project", jointly prepared by Pivot Mining Consultants (Pty) and Tect Geological Consulting, and dated November 16, 2021. The database for the Kibi Gold Project encompasses 642 drillholes totalling 108,942.5 m, including 592 diamond drillcore holes (104,227.5 m) and 50 reverse circulation (RC) drillholes (4,715 m), drilled by Xtra-Gold since 2008. This includes an additional 174 diamond core drillholes, totalling 34,737.1 m, completed since the 2021 Mineral Resource. The Kibi Gold Project database also incorporates 417 trenches, totalling 17,863 m, excavated by Xtra-Gold since 2007. This new mineral resource estimate encompasses drillhole and trench data available as of January 29, 2024. Three-dimensional (3D) geological models (i.e., mineralization envelopes) were generated for each auriferous body, based on their known geology and identified structural trends. The approach was based on the premise that gold-bearing fluids would have preferentially flowed through the defined structures, as depicted by the geological models. A lower cut-off of 0.4 g/t gold was utilized to constrain the outer limits of mineralization envelopes. The detailed geological models, in addition to providing well-constrained mineralization envelopes for mineral resource estimation, also serve as guides for structurally-controlled mineralization zones that will be subject to further exploration targeting. The mineral resource estimation was undertaken separately for each auriferous body, utilizing the Ordinary Kriging method. Directional variograms and search parameters were developed for each body using the veining direction within the respective geological models. A block model cell size of 5 m x 5 m x 5 m was set after considering various parameters, as well as the geometry of the gold bodies. Assay capping values were independently established for each deposit, with capping values ranging from 15 g/t - 25 g/t gold. A cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t gold was applied after consideration of the reasonable expectation of eventual economic extraction. The updated Mineral Resource encompasses ten (10) auriferous bodies lying within approximately 2.7 km of each other, including: the Big Bend, East Dyke, Mushroom, Road Cut and South Ridge deposits within Zone 2, with separations varying from almost contiguous to 200 m; the Double 19, Twin Zone and Boomerang deposits in Zone 3, approximately 400 m to 950 m southwest of Zone 2; and the Gatehouse and Gold Mountain bodies situated in Zone 1, approximately 650 m southeast of Zone 2. Mineralization remains open down-plunge for all auriferous bodies, with several bodies remaining open in multiple directions. Approximately 83% of the Indicated Mineral Resource (880,500 oz.) is contained within three (3) deposits, including the essentially contiguous Big Bend and East Dyke deposits in Zone 2, and the Boomerang deposit in Zone 3, approximately 1.5 km to the southwest of Zone 2. Gold mineralization within the Mineral Resource footprint area consists predominantly of tensional arrays of auriferous quartz-carbonate veins typically, hosted within or spatially associated with F1-or F2-folded /strained diorite units, and/or metasedimentary rock - diorite contacts, with diorite bodies having an interpreted Belt-type granitoid affinity. Over 20 significant gold occurrences hosted by Belt (Dixcove)-and Basin (Cape Coast)-type granitoids are known in Ghana, with a number constituting significant deposits. These deposits represent a relatively new style of gold mineralization for orogenic gold deposits within the West African Birimian terrain. Belt-type intrusion-hosted gold deposits include Newmont Mining's Subika deposit at their Ahafo mine and Asante Gold's Chirano deposit (formerly Kinross Mining) within the Sefwi gold belt, as well as Chifeng Gold's Hwini-Butre deposit (formerly Gold Star Resources) at the southern extremity of the Ashanti gold belt.