Resource World Magazine

48 www.resourceworld.com A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 8 DESERT GOLD VENTURES INC. [DAU- TSXV; DAUGF-OTC; QXR2-FSE] is drilling its Farabantourou gold project in south- western Mali, West Africa. The politically stable southwest region is home to a num- ber of producing gold mines along the Mali-Senegal Shear Zone (MSSZ). These include Randgold's Loulo (9.8 Moz) and Gounkoto Mine (4.4 Moz), Endeavour Mining's Tabakoto and Segala Mine (3.3 Moz), the IAMGOLD/AngloGold Ashanti Sadiola Mine (8.1 Moz) and Yatela Mine (3.5 Moz) as well as the most recent pro- ducer – B2Gold's Fekola Mine (4.7 Moz). Mali is Africa's third largest gold producer. Desert Gold holds two gold exploration permits (Farabantourou and Segala Ouest) within the Kenieba Birimian Inlier of Western Mali. The Farabantourou Project is 40 km south of the Sadiola Mine and 50 km north of the Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex. Desert Gold's initial drill program is test- ing three target areas: Barani East, Barani and Keniegoulou. The program calls for 31 holes totalling 780 metres of diamond drill- ing and 3,265 metres of RC drilling. Previous drilling at Barani East returned up to 7.8 g/t gold over 10 metres. There are four moderate to steep east-dipping mineralized lenses 4.5 to 15 metres wide with a strike length of about 550 metres and may be open along strike and to depth. There is potential for paral- lel zones. To date, mineralized intercepts returned up to 2.22 g/t gold over 20 metres. At the Barani prospect, earlier drill- ing returned 2.19 g/t gold over 9 metres. The prospect is subparallel and proximal to the MSSZ, along which the Sadiola, Loulo-Gounkoto complex and Fekola gold mine are situated. At Barani, gold miner- alization is contained in several lenses that have been traced over ~1,900 metres along strike that remains open – also to depth. At the Keniegoulou, past drilling returned 5.92 g/t gold over 4 metres. This prospect is close to and subparallel to the MSSZ on the southern strike extension of the Barani prospect. The zone has five lenses over about 1,500 metres open along strike and to depth. Jared Scharf, President of Desert Gold, said, "This drill program is focusing on our Farabantourou property which straddles the Mali-Senegal Shear Zone which hosts, in the management's opinion, some of the best gold deposits in the world combining high-grade, multimillion ounce reserves and low mining costs." In early February, the company reported the completion of its drill pro- gram at its Segala West Project, south of the Farabantourou property and also along the MGGZ. The program is the first step to further testing of the numerous mineral- ized structures and significant gold-in-soil anomalies on the property. The Segala West permit is surrounded by several large gold mines, including Loulo-Gounkoto to the west and, adjacent to the southeast, the Tabakoto and Segala mines. As first pass drilling, the program was designed to test continuity of gold miner- alization reported from detailed mapping and rock sampling over five newly dis- covered artisanal zones including Baroya, Baroya North, Baroya North-West, Segala and Yatia West. The new discovery assays included 0.92 g/t gold over 22 metres at Baroya NW; 7.13 g/t gold over 1 metre and 7.16 g/t gold over 1 metre in two separate mineralized structures at Yatia NW; and 0.88 g/t gold over 8 metres at Baroya mid north. Earlier, grab samples at Baroya NW returned up to 39.2 g/t gold. Drilling also extended known Diamond drilling Desert Gold's Farabantourou gold project in southwestern Mali, West Africa. Photo courtesy Desert Gold Ventures Inc. MINING Desert Gold Ventures drilling Mali gold prospects by Ellsworth Dickson

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