Aurum Resources has expanded its Boundiali Mineral Resource by 19% to 3.84Moz, with Indicated Resources rising 37% to 2.33Moz after infill drilling. The Ore Reserve remains unchanged for now, leaving the late-2026 DFS and mining licence approvals as the next major tests.
- Boundiali resource rises 19% to 3.84Moz of gold
- Indicated Resources increase 37% to 2.33Moz
- Maiden 130koz resource added at BMT2
- 0.62Moz converted from Inferred to Indicated
- Ore Reserve remains unchanged at 1.21Moz
Indicated gold rises ahead of the DFS
Aurum Resources Limited (ASX:AUE) has added 620,000 ounces to the Boundiali Gold Project’s Mineral Resource, taking the total to 3.84 million ounces. The more important shift for the development case is within that total: Indicated Resources climbed 37% to 2.33Moz, while Inferred Resources were broadly stable at 1.50Moz.
The result was driven by infill drilling at BST1, BMT1 and BMT3, which converted 0.62Moz from Inferred to Indicated. That is the classification change Aurum had been targeting ahead of an Ore Reserve update, and follows a run of drilling results that included the October Boundiali drilling results, including mineralisation outside the previous resource at BST1 and BMT2.
BMT2 becomes Boundiali’s seventh resource
The update also gives BMT2 its first formal resource: 4.4 million tonnes at 0.9 grams per tonne gold for 130,000 ounces. BDT2 now exceeds one million ounces at 1.02Moz, while BST1 stands at 820,000 ounces and BMT3 at 810,000 ounces. Aurum says all deposits remain open along strike and at depth, with its expanded 150,000-metre 2026 drilling program continuing.
The resource contains a higher-grade component of 2.0Moz at 1.7g/t gold using a 1.0g/t cut-off. However, the estimate remains a JORC Mineral Resource rather than a guarantee of mineable metal: the reported material is undiluted, there are no Measured Resources, and SLR says closer drilling would be needed for higher classification confidence. The estimate also uses different cut-offs above and below 300 metres, with economic viability below that depth still requiring further study.
Reserve and permitting remain the development hurdles
Aurum’s 42.1Mt Probable Ore Reserve containing 1.21Moz has not changed. It was based on the April resource estimate and will be revisited through the Definitive Feasibility Study, targeted for late 2026. That creates a clear gap between the larger geological inventory announced today and the reserve that currently supports the project’s development case.
Environmental approval was granted in May, but mining exploitation permits remain outstanding for the relevant tenements. Aurum says it held more than A$95 million in unaudited cash at 30 September and continues to target a final investment decision ahead of first gold in the first half of 2028. Those dates remain forward-looking, and the DFS will need to translate the additional Indicated ounces into mine scheduling, recoveries, capital requirements and a revised reserve.
Bottom Line?
The resource upgrade strengthens the material available for the DFS, but the investment case still turns on the updated Ore Reserve, mining licences and development economics.
Questions in the middle?
- How much of the additional Indicated Resource will convert into Probable Ore Reserves in the DFS?
- When will the Côte d’Ivoire mining exploitation licences be granted?
- Will the larger resource base change the project’s capital, operating cost or production assumptions?