Aurum Resources (ASX: AUE) has continued its run of success in Côte d’Ivoire with further strong drilling results at its Boundiali gold project.

The company, which only entered the West African mining scene last November, is rapidly making a name for itself with its aggressive drilling at Boundiali and its recent bid for well-regarded Mako Gold (ASX: MKG).

This has continued with the latest results from BM Target 1, where the company has further extended the strike.

Mineralisation growth

“Our exploration drilling at BM continues to grow the known extent of gold mineralisation, which is now up to 2.5 kilometres at BM Target 1,” managing director Dr Caigen Wang said.

“Our expanded drilling program at BM is hitting multiple intercepts downhole, including shallow high-grade hits such as 1m at 35.86 grams per tonne gold from 82m and 4.25m at 3.75g/t gold from 120m.

“Our six rigs are systematically ramping up production and with our new camp coming online […] we’re targeting an inaugural JORC resource for Boundiali by late 2024.”

DD program

Aurum is currently undertaking a diamond drilling (DD) exploration program of 26 holes for 5,050m in an expanded campaign targeting multiple prospects on the Boundiali BM tenement.

The company is planning follow-up drilling of around 1,500m per month to further define the extent of mineralisation on this target.

Exploration drilling on the early-stage BM tenement will continue to test for potential new discoveries, while scout and step-back diamond drilling at the BD tenement will aim to delineate known gold zones and identify new targets.

Aurum is maintaining a target drilling rate of around 10,000m per month across the project and aiming to drill 45,000m of diamond core at Boundiali this year.

Mako Gold bid

In mid-October, Aurum moved to expand its West African mining footprint with a proposed takeover of Mako Gold.

The companies executed a bid implementation agreement to effect the merger by way of off-market takeover bids, under which Aurum will bid for 100% of the shares and 100% of the class A and class B options in Mako.

The proposed merger will combine Aurum’s strong balance sheet and exceptional drilling efficiencies, with $20 million in cash to deploy into rapid work programs targeted at further resource definition across Aurum and Mako’s assets in northern Côte d’Ivoire.

In preparation for a successful conclusion of the takeover, Aurum purchased two sets of new diamond drill rigs and 30,000m of drilling consumables, which were shipped from China to Côte d’Ivoire on 10 November.