While Silver Lake Resources owns around 10.7% of Sarama, giving investors indirect access to drillbit success, Sarama is looking to raise A$6-8 million at 21c per CHESS depositary interest to advance exploration over some 1900sq.km that spans two prospective gold belts in West Africa.
It wants the funds to advance a planned 50,000m drilling campaign at the Sanutura project, the first major drilling since 2017.
Sanutura hosts two deposits, Tankoro and Bondi, where there are indicated resources of 600,000 ounce at 1.9 grams per tonne and an inferred 2.3Moz at 1.4gpt.
Non-executive chairman Simon Jackson said the drilling would target low-hanging fruit, primarily additional ounces in the shallow oxide zones, that can feed a carbon-in-leach facility to generate income, while helping unlock the potential of more than 30 prospective areas within the southern Hounde and Boromo belts.
There is an exploration target in excess of 3.5Moz for Sanutura.
While the focus is on the 1420sq.km Sanutura, the company also has the large Koumandara greenfields project, where it wants to recommence exploration along a 90km-long of gold-in-soil anomaly that is dotted with significant artisanal workings, and an 18% interest in the Karankasso project that abuts Sanutura, and where there is a 700,000oz inferred resource that grades 1.73gpt.
About half the cash raised will be spent on Sanutura, with less than $500,000 earmarked for Koumandara, which covers 467sq.km on the eastern margin of the northern Banfora Belt.
Endeavour Mining, which owns the multi-million ounce Mana and Hounde mines, is driving the work at Karankasso, but progress has been described as slow.
A further $1.5 million will be spent making a payment to Barrick Gold, as part of a terminated earn-in agreement over parts of Sanutura.
Sarama's highly credentialled board have plenty of experience in the Birimian-aged greenstone belts in West Africa.
Sarama's co-founders are 30-year mining veteran Andrew Dinning as managing director, and executives Paul Schmiede and John Hamilton.
All three previously helped oversee develop of Moto Goldmine's namesake 23Moz project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo prior to its C$546 million takeover by Randgold Resources and AngloGold Ashanti in 2009.
Jackson is also chairman of successful Guinea-focused explorer Predictive Discovery and a director at gold miner Resolute Mining.
The board also includes independent non-executive directors, geologist Adrian Byass and former Gryphon Minerals chief operating officer and West African veteran Steven Zaninovich.
Sarama aims to list in April with a market capitalisation of A$27-29 million.
Its TSXV shares have traded as low as C14c over the past year and were trading at a 52-week high of 28c recently, valuing it at $28 million.
