Africa and Middle East
With seven operations, the AME region is Barrick’s busiest in terms of brownfields exploration. However, there is also extensive greenfields exploration work in progress.
On the Bambadji joint venture in Senegal, the team interpreted a highly anomalous, 26km long corridor of increased strain and alteration which contains significant mineralization along its length. Work in the past year has focused on a set of deeper framework holes which have tested the corridor around its most prospective segments. Results from this work have been encouraging, identifying continuity of mineralization in very wide-spaced drilling and significantly upgrading Barrick’s interpretation and the corridor remains the principal target on the project. Also in Senegal, the Dalema and Bambadji South projects saw significant work through shallow geochemical drilling and geophysical surveys, which identified multiple anomalous areas for follow up work.
At Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali, the team has started testing the extensions to open, high-grade mineralization beneath the Yalea, Gounkoto and Baboto deposits. At Baboto there is significant untested space at relatively shallow depths beneath historical drilling and early results have confirmed high grade mineralization, while at Yalea, drilling is testing for a repetition of the high-grade ‘purple-patch’ mineralization. Exploration also continues along significant structures away from the deposits such as the domain boundary, where results this year identified additional zones of mineralization.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the Boundiali permit was reissued with a significant conversion drilling program being completed at the Fonondara target as part of the program to evaluate its potential as a Tongon satellite ore source. On the Tongon permit the aim is to identify another large mineralized Skarn system, like Tongon, and shallow drilling along prospective structures around Tongon and onto the new Korokaha North permit is in progress.
At Kibali in the DRC, strong drilling results through the year on multiple targets continue to confirm the prospectivity of the principal structures around the KCD deposit. High-grade mineralization was intersected beneath the Oere target, confirming its open nature and highlighting the deep potential along an untested, multi-kilometre part of that structure. At Agbarabo and Rhino, drilling confirmed the down-plunge continuity of multiple mineralized shoots with the potential to be mined from underground, while drilling at KCD identified a new plunging mineralized lode on the sparsely tested western side of the deposit. Drilling at the Zambula target in the south of the Kibali project also confirmed open mineralization near surface.
In Tanzania, Barrick continued to consolidate ground in the most prospective parts of the country, including establishing a new large scale exploration footprint on a highly endowed and under explored belt away from our current operations. To rapidly progress this portfolio we have carried out geochemical and geophysical surveys this year, while the teams have also identified multiple near mine targets at both Bulyanhulu and North Mara. Along the Gokona Corridor at North Mara, exploration beneath 100m of cover has confirmed multiple areas with elevated Gokona-type geochemistry and alteration which need to be further drill-tested. Around Bulyanhulu, the team confirmed the continuity of mineralization along the main structures beyond the deposit and further work is required to better define the opportunity.
Generative work continues across the Copper Belt of DRC and Zambia where we are evaluating multiple opportunities. At Lumwana, our team continues to support the ongoing Superpit feasibility study through the successful extension of mineralized horizons.
In the Arabian Nubian shield, Barrick is progressing projects with exciting results in Saudi Arabia and in Egypt. Initial results from the Hamash Sukari project were received and the plan is to complete an airborne EM survey in 2024. Barrick’s partnership with Ma’aden was extended beyond Jabal Sayid this year to include the Jabal Sayid South and Umm ad Damaar projects. At Umm ad Damar, following mapping and geophysical surveys, results from a first phase of drilling across four different targets have been highly encouraging with VMS alteration and mineralization intersected at all targets.