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Alecto Minerals plc (LSE:ALO), an AIM quoted mineral exploration company focussed on West and East Africa, has released its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2013.
Highlights:
· Acquisition of the Kossanto Gold Project in western Mali (‘the Kossanto Project’) and associated regional projects, located in a proven gold hosting region
· Implementation of resource upgrade drilling programme for the Kossanto Project, resulting in an approximate 80% increase in the pre-existing JORC Code compliant inferred resource estimate to 193,000 ounces of gold across two target areas
o Further rotary air blast (‘RAB’) drilling ongoing at Gourbassi target
· New gold discoveries at multiple areas across the Massakama target, in the western part of the Kossanto Project licence area – sampling results from mineralised quartz veins up to 31.5 g/t Au indicate a strong upside potential
· Work on-going to strengthen the geological model across all three target areas of the Kossanto Project
· Joint venture agreement (the ‘Joint Venture’) entered into with mid-tier gold miner Centamin plc to pursue certain mining project opportunities identified by Alecto and Centamin in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
· Both of Alecto’s existing gold projects in Ethiopia, Wayu Boda and Aysid-Metekel, have been designated as Joint Venture projects – Centamin to fund exploration activities over the next two years in order for it to farm-in for up to a 70% interest in the projects
· Mark Jones appointed as CEO in tandem with the Company’s acquisition of the Kossanto Project – strong understanding and experience of the Kossanto Project and gold exploration in Africa to spearhead the Group’s future development
· Successfully raised, in aggregate, £1.6 million (before expenses) during the year together with a further £1.5 million (before expenses) raised in January 2014 to fund the Group’s 2014 exploration campaigns and to provide general working capital
Mark Jones, CEO of Alecto, commented:
“This has been a period of notable progress for Alecto characterised by an acquisition, joint venture and, most importantly, the achievement of operational milestones. As a junior explorer, I am cognisant of the need for the Company’s strong advancement year on year. With this in mind, since I joined the Board in October 2013, the Company has focussed on rapidly implementing value accretive exploration programmes across its asset portfolio, and particularly at the Kossanto Project, in order to generate detailed information to facilitate their future growth and development. A substantial 80% upgrade in the JORC Code compliant inferred resource estimate for Gourbassi within the Kossanto Project area in April 2014 was particularly pleasing following the recent drilling programme, and we continue to build on our knowledge of the geological model for the project through, inter alia, our low cost in-house RAB drilling. Work is also underway at our Ethiopian projects and accordingly, I am confident that by the end of this current financial year, our position as an African focused AIM quoted exploration company will be considerably enhanced.”
