MetalsGrove Soil Survey Reveals Multiple West African Gold Targets
MetalsGrove Mining is advancing a promising gold exploration story in central-west Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, with early-stage soil sampling identifying a second priority gold target at its Zuénoula permit. The new target, named the "Fifty-Five Area," is located one kilometre north of the previously identified Central Area and is defined by four gold-anomalous soil samples along a 2.4-kilometre northeasterly structural trend.
Rapid Field-Testing Methods Validate Early Results
To quickly assess gold presence for target refinement, MetalsGrove employs PortablePPB, a rapid field-testing method based on the patented detectORE process. This involves leaching a small soil sample with the GLIX-20 reagent in a bottle-roll to extract trace gold, which adheres to a collector and is read using a handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) machine. Limited fire assay analysis in the Fifty-Five Area has partially validated these early results, with one sample assaying 23 parts per billion (ppb) gold, a meaningful anomalous value in near-surface soil geochemistry.
Expanded Sampling and Pending Assays
MetalsGrove has completed 400m-by-400m infill soil sampling across approximately 10 square kilometres of the Fifty-Five Area and is awaiting assays. At the adjacent Central Area, PortablePPB field assay results outlined a northeast-trending alignment of seven gold-anomalous soil samples, extending the strike to 3.4 kilometres. Initial fire assay validation of Central Area samples yielded two results, both at a maximum of 49ppb gold.
The encouraging geochemical responses from both the Fifty-Five Area and Central Area have prompted MetalsGrove to expand the broad 400-metre infill sampling program from 13 to 20 square kilometres to pursue the inferred northeasterly extension of the trend. The company has also completed similar infill work over its South East Corner structural target, located on the margin of a granite intrusion, with assay results pending.
Pathway to Drilling and Project Context
All infill samples from the Fifty-Five Area, Central Area, and South East Corner are scheduled for delivery to Bureau Veritas in Abidjan this week for fire assay, with results expected in mid to late March. Any coherent gold zones identified will undergo a final round of high-density soil sampling on a 100m-by-50m grid to support drill planning.
MetalsGrove Mining managing director and chief executive officer Lijun Yang stated, "The identification of a second gold target at the Fifty-Five Area highlights the scale and growing prospectivity of our Zuénoula PR750 permit." This update follows the company's February announcement, where early district-scale soils first outlined the anomalous Central Area, leading to the setup of a field assay laboratory in Zuénoula township to expedite decision-making.
The Zuénoula prospect is part of MetalsGrove's Central West Gold project, a 1,315-square-kilometre joint venture permit package in Côte d'Ivoire. The area lies along the highly prospective Abujar–Napié gold trend within the Birimian greenstones, a prolific host of gold deposits across West Africa. With three target areas awaiting fire assay and a clear pathway to tighter infill and drill design, MetalsGrove is poised to rapidly transform broad anomalies into testable drilling targets.
