For much of Avesoro's 14-month history, the focus has been on the New Liberty mine, Liberia's first commercial gold operation. While the company, formerly known as Aureus Mining, overcame an Ebola outbreak to complete construction at New Liberty, the mine's initial few years of operation have been characterised by a host of operational problems.
The addition of the already-operating Balogo and Youga mines in Burkina Faso has provided Avesoro with another producing outlet.
And, from the looks of drilling carried out in the second half of 2017, these mines have plenty more to give beyond the 115,894 ounces of gold they delivered last year.
Highlights from near-mine target drilling at Balogo included 5.45m grading 22.2g/t Au from 54.05m and 5.1m at 28.11g/t Au from 31.2m.
The majority of this drilling came from downdip extensions at Balogo, with mineralisation now extended 140m below the planned pit floor. Intersections have, so far, averaged 3.51m at 36.34g/t in terms of width and grade.
The company plans to carry out more drilling below this level this year as part of its fully-funded US$25 million exploration programme. Following drilling, it plans to start a scoping study for an underground mine at Balogo.
Avesoro was also able to extend the vertical depth of mineralisation by a further 65m at the A2NE Mid Pit at Youga in the second half of the year.
This was characterised by standout intercepts such as 3.65m grading 35.45g/t from 112m and 4.4m grading 15.32g/t from 100.45m.
Avesoro plans to carry out 171,000m of drilling in 2018 - 139,000m in Burkina Faso and 32,000m in Liberia.
