Asara Resources has lifted the Kada Gold Project’s Mineral Resource by 125% to 2.08 million ounces, with Indicated Resources now accounting for 1.27 million ounces. The Guinea-focused explorer is directing its next phase towards a Definitive Feasibility Study while continuing resource conversion drilling and expanding its regional ground position.
- Kada Mineral Resource rises to 92.88Mt at 0.70g/t gold for 2.08Moz
- Indicated Resource increases more than sixfold to 1.27Moz
- Massan drilling continues with 241 holes completed for 33,223m
- Guinea exploration landholding expands to approximately 301km²
- A$53.689m cash and cash equivalents reported at quarter end
Kada resource reaches 2.08 million ounces
Asara Resources Limited (ASX:AS1) has turned a year of drilling at its Kada Gold Project in Guinea into a substantially larger and more confident resource base, reporting 92.88 million tonnes at 0.70 grams per tonne gold for 2.08 million ounces of contained gold. The updated interim Mineral Resource is 125% larger than the October 2023 estimate, while the Indicated category has risen more than sixfold to 51.37Mt at 0.77g/t for 1.27Moz.
The result gives Asara a stronger platform for its planned Definitive Feasibility Study, targeted for completion by the end of the second quarter of calendar 2027. The company’s earlier Kada resource update had already highlighted the 2.08Moz figure, but the quarterly report shows the work continuing beyond the database used for that estimate.
Massan accounts for almost all of the resource, with 91.23Mt at 0.70g/t for 2.04Moz. Bereko contributes a further 1.65Mt at 0.81g/t for 0.04Moz, all classified as Inferred. Across Kada, oxide material totals 35.83Mt containing 0.89Moz, up from 12.4Mt in the company’s 2023 estimate.
Post-estimate drilling keeps resource conversion moving
Asara completed 241 exploration holes for 33,223 metres at Massan during the September quarter. Of that total, 96 holes covering 13,972 metres were incorporated into the updated resource, while another 145 holes for 19,251 metres were drilled after the 23 August assay cut-off and are intended to support future resource updates.
That distinction matters: the latest resource is not the final word on the drilling campaign. The post-cut-off programme included air-core, reverse-circulation and diamond drilling aimed at converting Inferred material to Indicated Resources and extending the mineralised system. Recent post-MRE Massan drilling had already included 21,638 metres of drilling and high-grade assay results, but the quarterly report does not provide new assays for the additional holes.
Expanded Guinea ground and a more focused portfolio
Asara also agreed to proceed with the acquisition of Arafura Ouest, whose Guinean subsidiary holds the Damissa Koura and Kankan West exploration permits. The deal would expand Asara’s regional landholding to approximately 301km²; consideration includes SGD100 in cash and the issue of five million Asara shares to the vendors for transition and management consulting services, subject to a 12-month escrow period. Those shares were issued on 14 September.
Regional exploration restarted at the Sogosogoba target on Damissa Koura, where 82 power-auger holes for 1,193 metres were completed. At the other end of the portfolio, Asara agreed to divest its 74.79% interest in the Paguanta copper and silver-lead-zinc project in Chile for consideration of up to US$1.4 million, although completion remains subject to customary conditions.
The quarter’s cash-flow statement records A$53.689 million in cash and cash equivalents at 30 September, after A$8.452 million of exploration and evaluation expenditure and A$3.843 million in placement proceeds. The activities report’s separate reference to “$53.67” appears truncated when compared with Appendix 5B. Asara reported no mining production or development activity, and its stated quarterly exploration and evaluation expenditure was A$8.48 million.
Bottom Line?
The resource milestone shifts attention from discovery to delivery: the next test is whether post-cut-off drilling and DFS work can convert a large Mineral Resource into an economically demonstrated development case.
Questions in the middle?
- How much of the 19,251 metres drilled after the resource cut-off will convert Inferred material into the Indicated category?
- What operating assumptions and capital requirements will emerge from the Kada Definitive Feasibility Study?
- When will the Damissa Koura and Kankan West acquisition and Paguanta divestment satisfy their remaining completion conditions?