Skylark expands Côte d’Ivoire gold pipeline beyond 1.2Moz Zaranou

Two new projects extend Skylark’s Côte d’Ivoire footprint

Skylark Minerals Limited (ASX:SKM) is adding two early-stage gold projects to its Côte d’Ivoire portfolio, signing binding agreements that could give it up to 97% of both Amie and Yaou. Together, the permit applications cover about 243km² in the country’s south-east, close to the company’s flagship Zaranou project.

The move comes shortly after Skylark’s 1.20Moz Zaranou resource upgrade, which lifted the project’s Inferred Mineral Resource by 228%. Zaranou remains the company’s immediate priority, while Amie and Yaou are being positioned as a longer-term pipeline of exploration targets.

Amie offers the clearest early exploration signal

Amie, located north of Zaranou, contains a historical gold-geochemical anomaly stretching about 3km along a mapped structural contact. Only around 20% of the application area has been covered by historical exploration, leaving much of the ground untested.

Historical aircore drilling produced several notable shallow intercepts, including 2 metres at 9.01 grams per tonne gold, 2 metres at 2.74g/t, and 2 metres at 2.35g/t. Those results are downhole lengths rather than confirmed true widths, and Skylark says the historical data has gaps around sample recovery, preparation and security. The company therefore intends to validate the dataset before expanding mapping, geochemical sampling and drilling.

Yaou is a regional theory awaiting field evidence

Yaou sits on the interpreted continuation of a major gold-bearing structural corridor associated with the Sefwi greenstone belt, which extends north-east into Ghana and includes the Ahafo, Chirano and Bibiani gold districts. The project is also near Turaco Gold’s Afema project.

That geological setting is the main attraction for now. Skylark’s 2026 due diligence identified quartz float, but the company reported no exploration results for Yaou in this announcement and described historical work across the application area as limited. Initial activity is expected to focus on mapping, geochemical sampling and geophysical interpretation to generate targets.

Earn-in structure limits upfront commitment but stretches the timeline

Under each agreement, Skylark will initially earn 51% by solely funding US$2.0 million of exploration expenditure within four years after the relevant exploration permit is granted. It can then reach 80% by completing a pre-feasibility study within seven years, buy a further 10% for US$2.0 million, and ultimately move to 97% if a decision to mine is made. Ivoire Geo Resources will retain a 3% free-carried interest.

The agreements also include milestone payments, including US$1.0 million when a JORC-compliant resource exceeds one million ounces and US$2.0 million when it exceeds two million ounces, subject to the stated grade conditions. The applications still need to be converted into exploration licences, and exploration remains dependent on access, community engagement and regulatory approvals. Skylark’s recently announced A$20 million strategic placement was directed at the next Zaranou drilling campaign, rather than explicitly allocated to these new projects.

Skylark says planning is already under way for a large-scale Zaranou programme aimed at further Mineral Resource growth in 2027. The more immediate test for the new portfolio will be whether permits arrive and whether Amie’s historical anomalies survive systematic verification; Yaou, meanwhile, must first turn an attractive regional setting into drill-ready targets.