Aim-listed IronRidge Resources on Tuesday announced that “high-grade” gold results have been returned from its Zaranou gold licence in Côte d'Ivoire.

COO Len Kolff said receiving consistent and high-grade channel and rock-chip sampling results from an early-stage reconnaissance programme over the Zaranou licence area reinforced the “significant exploration potential” of the project and IronRidge’s strategy to aggressively advance the targets.

"The returned results demonstrate that a high-priority target zone is developing over a 9.8 km strike length at an average 800 m width, which remains open along strike in both directions, with coincident hard-rock artisanal workings, high-grade channel and rock-chip sampling results and favourable geology,” he explained in a statement.

Kolff added that mineralisation had been recorded both within quartz veins and the host schist lithology, which indicated scale potential and bulk mineable widths.

These newly reported results validate historical reported results including broad mineralised quartz vein zones averaging 1.5 g/t to 12 g/t gold and mineralised pyrite alteration zones extending a further 10 m into the host rock.

Moreover, despite the wet season, which is expected to last until September, field teams are completing a high-resolution drone survey and follow-up field mapping, while also planning aircore drilling and soil geochemical programmes. These will start in the dry season, which begins in October.

IronRidge also provided an update on its planned exploration activities at the Zaranou gold licence for the third quarter of this year, during which field teams would be completing field mapping over the area of reported assay results to gain a better geological understanding.

Field teams at Zaranou have already begun an in-house fixed-wing drone survey to generate detailed topography and aerial photography base maps.

Further, IronRidge is planning infill aircore drill hole fences to test for mineralisation width and continuity within high-priority zones highlighted in channel and rock-chip sampling assay results, as well as regional soil geochemistry sampling programmes within the south-western portion of the licence area.

This work will also start at the onset of the dry season.