Special Report: Oklo Resources has recently had significant drilling success at its Dandoko project which sits in close proximity to  the prolific Senegal-Mali shear zone, host to several large gold mines.

Oklo Resources’ (ASX:OKU) major gold discovery is within 30km of a clutch of major gold mines in Mali, including B2 Gold’s 7.1 million-ounce Fekola mine, and Barrick Gold’s 18 million ounce Loulo Gounkoto mining complex.

“The Birimian rocks that we are exploring are host to tier-one projects, with Barrick Gold’s 18 million-ounce deposits within 30km of us and B2 Gold just to the west of us,” said managing director Simon Taylor.

“It is a great jurisdiction, and Mali itself is Africa’s third largest gold producer,” he said.

“It is a prolific part of the world for tier-one gold discoveries.”

Included in drilling hits for Dandoko was 49m at 12.83 grams per tonne gold (g/t), and 47m at 10.95 g/t.

These excellent results have established the project as a potential tier-one gold prospect, said the company.

The project area was initially identified by Oklo Resources Malian director, Dr Madani Diallo. Diallo is a geochemist with several major Mali gold discoveries under his belt, and was BHP’s Africa exploration manager for 10 years.

Oklo Resources’ Dandoko gold project is surrounded by a number of large gold mines: Company supplied

Mali, along with neighbouring Burkina Faso, is part of a blossoming West African gold region.

“West Africa has produced more gold than West Australia over the last few years,” said Taylor.

“It is a prolific part of the world for tier one gold discoveries, but it hasn’t had the level of exploration money put into it as in WA.”

 

Drilling led to Seko and Koko gold discoveries within Dandoko

70,000m of shallow reconnaissance auger drilling in 2016 and 2017 covering  the entire Dandoko project produced a 15km-long trend of gold anomalies, which the company has begun to systematically test with deeper follow up drilling since 2018.

Results  led to the Seko discovery and another called Koko in the underexplored, 15km gold corridor.

“What we have discovered at Seko is a brand-new discovery which has morphed into our flagship project at Dandoko, with numerous other relatively untested targets still to be explored,” Taylor said.

Seko has the potential for open-pit mining given it is a shallow ore body starting from surface to depths of up to 200m and remains open at depth and along strike. It shows early  similarities to B2Gold’s large Anaconda project to the west.

Oklo Resources’ Dandoko gold project shows similarities to large systems in the region. Pic: Supplied

“We have encountered high grade gold mineralisation from surface and will complete significantly more drilling at Seko over the coming months, which is looking to be a company-maker for us,” said Taylor.

The company is looking to firm up a JORC-compliant resource for the Dandoko gold prospects by the year-end.

In addition to Dandoko, the company has several other highly prospective gold projects nearby such as Kourofing, Kossaya and Moussala that cover 500km2 in total.

Oklo Resources’ Dandoko project contains its Koko and Seko gold discoveries. Picture: Supplied

The company recently farmed its projects in South Mali to Marvel Gold (ASX:MVL), with Oklo retaining a 20 per cent interest in the licences.

 

High quality investors and fully funded

Oklo Resources has a number of high-quality institutional investors, including Blackrock Group holding 11.9 per cent of the company.

Additionally, west Africa-focused gold miner Resolute Mining has a 10.8 per cent shareholding in Oklo.

“They are all familiar with West Africa and the potential for large gold discoveries and have come on to the share register through a combination of buying on market and share placements and continue to back us to explore,” said Taylor.

“They know the area and the geology,” he added.

The company is fully-funded for its exploration work with over $19m cash in the bank.

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Oklo Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.