Gold explorer Ampella, an exhibitor at the Mining Indaba 2011, is hoping to double its current resource base at the Batie West project, in Burkina Faso, with a resource upgrade expected during the first quarter of this year.
The explorer currently has a defined resource of 1,2-million ounces for the Konkera deposit within the Batie West project. However, executive director Evan Cranston tells Mining Weekly that the current resource estimate is only delineated over 10% to 15% of the 110-km shear zone that makes up the Bati West project.
“To achieve a million ounces in the first resource is quite significant and, with the new resource estimate coming out, we are hoping to double that in size as well, so we are looking at between two-million and three-million ounces,” says Cranston.
Once a new resource estimate is released, Ampella will focus its efforts on a prefeasibility study for the Konkera deposit, which will likely be completed by the third quarter of this year.
Cranston says that, if the prefeasibility study proves viable, the Konkera project will then be moved to the feasibility stage.
“We hope to get Batie West into production by the end of 2013, or by early 2014,” he tells Mining Weekly.
Ampella will also continue its regional exploration along the 110-km shear zone, in an effort to identify more targets. “We have secured the rights for four drill rigs for 2011/12 to do the drilling during the next year, and I think we will continue to make the transition from a pure exploration company through to a development and production company in the next few years,” says Cranston.
Meanwhile, Cranston notes that the sheer size of the Batie West project has drawn the interest of several industry players; however, he notes that Ampella is determined to develop the project on its own.
“We are focusing not on rushing it, but on exploring the project systematically and efficiently. “We have a very aggressive exploration strategy, but we do it properly.”
Ampella acquired the Batie West project in 2008 from a local vendor and is the first Western company to explore the virgin soil for gold-bearing anomalies. While some artisanal mining is taking place along the shear zone, no modern mining had been undertaken until Ampella bought the property.