Golden Rim Resources Ltd (ASX:GMR) is ramping up drilling operations at its West African projects – Kada Gold Project in Guinea and Kouri Gold Project in Burkina Faso.

The West African gold explorer expects to have six drilling rigs – the most at any one time in the company’s history – by mid-April 2021.

Six rigs in operation

Golden Rim managing director Craig Mackay said: “Golden Rim has secured the drilling rigs required for its planned programs at both Kada and Kouri.

“We are excited that by mid-April we should have six rigs in operation, the most at any one time in the company’s history.

First assays early April

“Our auger drilling at Kada is progressing very well and we have already completed about one-third of the planned program.

“We are discovering quartz – limonite mineralisation in bedrock outside the area previously drilled by Newmont, which is highly encouraging and our first assays are expected in early April.”

Kada Gold Project

A 15,000-metre power auger drilling program is progressing well at Kada in the company’s maiden campaign since acquiring a stake in the project in January this year.

The aim of this program is to explore for gold mineralised saprolite (weathered bedrock), under the shallow laterite and soil cover, which lies across the bulk of the project area.

First-pass drilling is initially focused on a prominent, north-south, magnetic corridor, with coincident Newmont gold-in-soil anomalies (results up to 22.5 g/t gold) that link Kada with AngloGold Ashanti’s 10 million ounces gold Siguiri Mine, 35 kilometres to the north.

Golden Rim has contracted a third power auger rig, which has mobilised to Kada, with 510 holes for 5,628 metres completed to date.

Drilling has intersected zones of intense quartz-limonite mineralisation in saprolite, beneath around 10 metres of laterite and soil cover, which is highly encouraging.

The first batch of auger samples are at the laboratory and results are expected in early April 2021.

Maiden mineral resource at Kada

RPM Advisory Services Pty Ltd prepared a 3D geological model for the predominantly oxide gold mineralisation in the previous Newmont non-JORC gold resource area.

Golden Rim has utilised the model to determine the location of the infill drilling (diamond and RC) required to prepare a maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource at Kada, targeted in the second half of 2021.

The company has signed contracts for 4,000 metres of RC drilling and 2,500 metres of diamond drilling for the infill drilling, with the two rigs to be mobilised within the next two to three weeks.

Kouri Gold Project

Golden Rim has signed a contract for 2,000 metres of diamond drilling at Kouri, with the rig expected to arrive on-site within the next week.

The first three holes will target depth extensions to the high-grade Diabatou Gold Shoot beneath the current mineral resource pit shell and the deepest existing drill hole which returned 7 metres at 4.6g/t gold, from 191 metres, including 3 metres at 10.2 g/t gold.