Drilling Starts at Armadale Capital's Flagship Mpokoto Gold Project in DRC

Production at the Mpokoto gold project in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has moved a step closer with the announcement that drilling has started.

The flagship project of AIM-listed Armadale Capital Plc already has an existing known resource of 507,000 ounces of gold.

The exploration drilling is being carried out to unlock further value from the site which has an overall target of 10-15million tonnes at 1.2g/t-1.5g/t.

Justin Lewis, Director of Armadale, said: “Mpokoto has already proven its value as a low cost gold project, boasting highly attractive returns and near term production potential and I am confident that this exploration programme will further unlock the Project’s inherent value. 

“Our primary goal is to commence commercial gold production before the end of 2015 and with results expected from Stage 2 of the Scoping Study, together with drill results, during the next quarter, we are looking forward to consecutive valuation events.”

Armadale is targeting to bring the mine, situated in the Katanga Province, into production by the end of 2015 and it is anticipated it has a six-year-long life of mine.

The drilling programme will also include Additional Auger drilling to a shall depth, which is being undertaken to provide further metallurgical samples of shallow oxide ore expected to support the first five years of gold production at Mpokoto.

Metallurgical testing will be conducted to provide a better understanding of the ore body, increase confidence in the plant design and to assess the possibility of raising recoveries from the plant for the oxide ores, which presently stand at 90 percent.

Phase 1 Scoping Study focused on the shallow oxide ore body and demonstrated a post-tax net present value of US$33.0 million and internal rate of return of 141 percent based on a discount rate of eight percent and a gold price of US$1,250 per ounce.