LONDON, UK: KEFI Gold and Copper Plc (AIM: KEFI), the gold and copper exploration and development company with a first-mover advantage in Saudi Arabia, has announced the discovery of a third Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposit in the Hawiah district of Saudi Arabia.

The new deposit, named Abu Salal, is located 50km south of the company’s Hawiah Copper-Gold project in the Wadi Bidah Mineral Belt. It is the third VMS discovery in the Hawiah district, following the original Hawiah discovery in 2019 and the Al Godeyer discovery in 2022.

Drilling at Abu Salal has intercepted massive and semi-massive sulphide mineralisation containing copper, gold, zinc and silver, across a 2,600m strike length, with true widths of up to 11m. The mineralisation remains open at depth, along strike and down plunge.

Assays of Abu Salal’s sulphide mineralisation have returned multiple grade intervals comparable to those at Hawiah, which already ranks in the top three of base metals projects in Saudi Arabia.

The company’s joint venture partner, Gold & Minerals Ltd (GMCO), has completed a first-pass 18-hole (2,009m) scout drilling programme at Abu Salal, which represents the first time that drilling has ever taken place at the site. The programme was designed to follow-up positive trenching and geophysical results completed in 2022.

The company said that the initial interpretation of the results is that the mineralisation represents the fringe environment of a VMS system, with alteration minerals typically associated with VMS deposits not observed. Sulphides are dominantly pyrite with lesser chalcopyrite and sphalerite.

The company said that these interpretations are important for guiding the next stages of exploration, which will aim to define the extent and grade of the mineralisation at Abu Salal and its potential to add to the existing resources at Hawiah and Al Godeyer.

Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, Executive Chairman of KEFI, commented: “We are delighted to announce the discovery of a third VMS deposit in the Hawiah district, which demonstrates the potential of this under-explored region of Saudi Arabia. Abu Salal is an exciting addition to our portfolio of copper-gold-zinc-silver projects in the country, and we look forward to advancing the exploration and development of this new discovery, as well as our existing projects at Hawiah and Al Godeyer.”

Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, KEFI’s Executive Chairman commented: “Ongoing exploration near our Hawiah copper-gold-zinc-silver deposit has now quickly yielded two additional discoveries, Al Godeyer and Abu Salal. Discovery of the latter has further strengthened our view that the Hawiah deposit itself is only the first in a cluster of deposits, as often occurs with this style of mineralisation, in a much broader district.

“Abu Salal is some 50km south of Hawiah and we have already identified a number of additional targets showing similar geological characteristics that are to be drill tested. Interestingly we note that Ivanhoe Electric, through its JV with the State mining company (Ma’aden), has committed to +US$60M of exploration in Saudi Arabia and more specifically has picked up licences in and around Hawiah not held by GMCO, and confirmed this district as amongst their top four exploration priorities in Saudi Arabia.

“As previously reported, Saudi Arabia has opened up its exploration and mining sector and we are seeing leading global explorers and producers enter into the Kingdom for the first time. KEFI’s first-mover advantage, through GMCO, has ensured the Company has secured some of the most prospective licences in Saudi Arabia and we believe we will continue to make significant additional discoveries, as well as expanding our existing discoveries, through our active exploration programmes, which have been running at a rate of approximately US$20M per annum for the past few years.

“Later this quarter we will be issuing an update on Hawiah and Al Godeyer following the positive work programmes that have taken place. The metal content already reported at Hawiah is the gold equivalent of the Company’s other development assets (Tulu Kapi in Ethiopia and Jibal Qutman in Saudi Arabia) prior to any further additional expansion. We are therefore highly encouraged to have made the Abu Salal discovery, which once fully appraised will no doubt significantly increase our resources in the Hawiah district still further.”