Infill drilling underway at Akora’s Bekisopa Southern Zone to firm-up DSO resource

Madagascar focussed iron ore explorer Akora Resources (ASX: AKO) has begun an infill drilling program at the Bekisopa Southern Zone that aims to firm-up a start-up direct shipping ore (DSO) resource at the target.

The program began late last week and will comprise 82 shallow holes for 850m.

It aims to better-define the DSO resource that will feed into a scoping study that is on track for completion in the December quarter.

“We are pleased to be back in Madagascar drilling our highly prospective Bekisopa project,” Akora managing director Paul Bibby said.

“Having already defined an iron ore resource of 194.7 million tonnes, our immediate focus is on better defining material suitable for a low-cost outcome to generate early cash flows for the upcoming scoping study,” he added.

Bekisopa iron ore project

Akora identified the potential in 2021 and 2020 for a near-term and low-cost DSO operation at Bekisopa.

The current program will generate a better understanding of the tonnage and grade of the DSO at the Bekisopa Southern Zone.

Holes will be drilled on a 50m-by-50m grid with depths varying from 5m to 24m.

“These DSO drill assays in combination with a selective mining and processing methodology are aimed at generating high-grade DSO at Bekisopa for several years with potential for a high margin cash flow,” Mr Bibby explained.

Currently of the 194.7Mt iron ore resource at Bekisopa, 7.8Mt has been classified as DSO.

This DSO material grades 64% iron and is at surface.

Regional upside

In June, Akora announced results from rock chip sampling at the Satrokala prospect within Bekisopa.

Mr Bibby said the results from this program which uncovered up to 68.03% iron were “extremely encouraging” and indicate the potential for another discovery at the project.

He added this prospect potentially hosts a resource comparable to Bekisopa.

Of the 102 samples collected from Satrokala, 89 graded above 50% with an average of 62%.