–News Direct–
By Faith Ashmore, Benzinga
Pasofino Golds (TSX-V: VEIN) Dugbe Gold Project is in Liberia, which could be West Africa's last untapped gold exploration frontier. The Dugbe Gold Project is located in southern Liberia and is situated within a Birimian geological province. Pasofino Gold reports that the Birimian province is recognized for hosting the majority of the large and economic West African gold deposits, and the Dugbe Gold Project landholding consists of 2559 kms2 which remains largely unexplored. Further, the company is reportedly well situated in the country with the project area conveniently positioned only 70 kilometers away from the Greenville deep-water port.
Through its subsidiary ARX Resources Limited, Pasofino currently owns 100% of the Dugbe Gold Project before the Government of Liberia's 10% carried interest. The project's mining rights and terms are secured by a mineral development agreement awarded by the Government of Liberia, lasting for 25 years and thereafter renewable.
Although less than 10% of the project has been explored so far, Pasofino reports that the known discoveries are already promising. The Dugbe F and Tuzon areas hold a combined Measured and Indicated Resource of approximately 3.3 million ounces of gold. Multiple drill-ready targets also display abundant gold mineralization at the surface, according to Pasofino. The Bukon Jedeh area has a history of artisanal gold production spanning over 80 years and is believed to have yielded hundreds of thousands of ounces of gold. Exploration of this target by Pasofino has recently commenced. Another prospective target is the Tuzon Sackor trend, which exhibits surface gold mineralization up to a grade of 3 grams per tonne and has yet to be drilled. Pasofino is optimistic that these combined areas will lead to a further update on the companys Resources and Reserves profile.
The company believes the remaining 90% of the project area also holds immense potential for further discoveries.
The project holds a large mineral reserve that supports an average annual gold production of approximately 173,000 ounces from open-pit mining. Within the mineral reserves, there is an estimated 2.76 million ounces of gold with a fully diluted mined head grade of 1.30 grams per tonne. These reserves are projected to sustain a 14-year Life of Mine (LOM). Additionally, the average annual production for the first five years is anticipated to be 200,000 ounces. The project remains scalable, according to the company.
The project's strip ratio, comparing waste material to the amount of ore, is low at 4.2:1 and even lower during the initial five years of production. To support operations, a 5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) processing plant is planned to be built at a location conveniently situated between the two major deposits.
In January 2024, Pasofino closed a non-brokered private placement of $2.3 million to insiders to fund the Dugbe Gold project which allowed the company to progress the development of the Project and the maximization of its value. Currently, a new drill program is underway to extend the Tuzon mineralization along with possible additional exploration targets previously identified. Additionally, a number of opportunities have been identified to optimize the Feasibility Study which was completed during COVID with challenges incurred during that time.
Pasofino Gold is expanding its presence in the gold market at a critical time. Many anticipated that by the end of 2024, the gold rate could exceed $2,300/oz, which would break the all-time high that was hit in March 2024. At the writing of this article in April 2024, this record has already been broken, with the gold price going above $2,400/oz. Some projections indicate that the price of gold will continue to climb in the period between 2024 and 2030 and in the most optimistic scenarios, experts believe the rate could even reach levels above $4,000 by 2030. Pasofino Golds Dugbe Gold project could be a critical supplier as gold prices continue to rise.
Comparable project valuations within the African environment have had market cap values ranging from $200M to $600M, like Osino Twin Hills Project (TSX: OSI) and Tietto Minerals Abijar Project (ASX: TIE). At a current market cap of around $45 million, Pasofino may be one to watch.
Featured photo by Peter Olexa on Unsplash.
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