Aurum Resources achieves key milestone at Boundiali with increased JV stake and ongoing drilling success

Aurum Resources (ASX: AUE) has achieved a major milestone in its Côte d’Ivoire gold development aspirations after increasing its interest to 51% in the BM Joint Venture (JV) project, part of its Boundiali gold project.

The company established itself at Boundiali in late 2023 with the successful acquisition of Plusor Global and its rights to separate agreements to earn an interest in permits PR-0893 and PR-0808.

With a strategy to fast-track exploration at the West African project through the continuous addition of drilling rigs, Aurum has now reached 51% ownership after completing more than 8,000 metres of diamond drilling (DD).

Pending assays

Aurum’s level of drilling activity has also paid off with numerous successes.

“While the scouting drilling results released earlier this year are very encouraging, we are more excited about pending assay results in early October for new holes drilled in recent months,” managing director Dr Caigen Wang said.

“With ongoing DD through the rest of this year, we expect inaugural JORC resources to be defined on this JV project [along] with initial JORC resources from the BD tenement, where very impressive drilling results have been intercepted and reported.”

New JV company

In a strategic corporate move, Plusor and Minex West Africa  have agreed to incorporate a new JV company in which Plusor initially has 51% and Minex 49% share capital.

Once this incorporation is complete, the exploration licence will be transferred from Minex to the new JV.

From there, Aurum (through Plusor) can earn up to an 88% interest if certain conditions are met.

Aurum is well-funded with around $20 million cash at hand to accelerate exploration drilling at Boundiali, with a goal of defining an inaugural resource before the end of CY2024.

“Aurum is confident in the potential of the Boundiali gold project and is committed to delivering value for its shareholders,” Dr Wang said.