JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Gryphon Minerals, which is developing the Banfora gold project in Burkina Faso, has agreed an earn-in deal with fellow-listed Boss Resources, giving it exposure to the Houndé belt, which it says is “one of the most prolific” in the country.
The Australian juniors will establish a joint venture (JV) over the Golden Hill, Gourma and Tenkodogo gold projects, totalling 1 750 km2. The Golden Hill project – the most advanced of the projects in the JV agreement area – is on the same belt and has similar geology to Semafo’s new Siou deposit (769 000 oz at 4.94 g/t) and Roxgold’s Yaramako project (790 000 oz at 17.1 g/t). The Houndé belt also hosts Semafo’s six-million-ounce Mana mine and Endeavour Mining’s Houndé two-million-ounce project.
The Gourma project is located in the Fada N’Gourma Greenstone belt and the Tenkodogo project is located on the Gourma Shear zone.
Gryphon has the ability to earn a majority interest in each project by meeting two years of minimum expenditure commitments.
MD Steve Parsons commented that the transaction was in line with Gryphon’s low-cost exploration strategy. “While Gryphon’s focus firmly remains on the development of the Banfora gold project, our highly skilled exploration team can use proven low-cost exploration techniques to advance these projects,” he said in a statement.