The SMSZ Project

Desert Gold's flagship SMSZ Project overlies a 38 km section of West Africa’s prolific Senegal Mali Shear Zone which is related to 4 tier one gold mines including B2 Gold's Fekola Mine, Barrick's Gounkoto and Loulo Mines and Allied Gold's Sadiola and Yatela Mines.

At 410km2 the Company’s SMSZ Project is one of the largest gold exploration projects in Western Africa. With 20+ open gold zones discovered to date that require follow up and numerous targets yet to be tested, the SMSZ Project has the potential for the discovery of a major gold deposit(s) consistent with the region’s tier 1 gold mines.

Regional Overview

  • Most of the gold mineralization in Western Mali and eastern Senegal, is related to the Senegal Mali Shear ("SMSZ") and Main Transcurrent Shear Zones ("MTSZ"), respectively
  • Desert Gold's 401 km2 SMSZ Property is directly on and proximal to ~38 km of the SMSZ and ~11 km of the MTSZ.
  • Major deposits in close proximity to the SMSZ Project*:
    • Yatela: 2.1 Moz Au past production1
    • Sadiola: 113.7 Mt Ind Res @ 1.86 g/t Au for 6.79 Moz Au, 4.7 Moz Au past production1
    • Loulo and Gounkoto: 6.9 Moz Au past production and Measured res of 24 Mt @ 4.09 g/t for 3.2 Moz Au of Au and Ind res of 36 Mt @ 4.69 g/t for 5.4 Moz Au2
    • Tabakoto & Segala: 0.96 Moz past production, Ind Res of 19.9 Mt @ 3.01 g/t Au for 1.9 Moz ; Inf res of 7.4 Mt @ 3.4 g/t Au for 0.8 Moz3
    • Fekola: 110.6 Mt Ind Res @ 1.7 g/t Au for 6.0 Moz and 28.6 Mt Inf Res @ 1.14 g/t Au for 1 Moz4
    • Massawa: M&I 18.66 Mt @ 3.98 g/t Au for 2.39 Moz Au and Inf. 7.54 Mt @ 3.12 g/t Au for 0.7 Moz Au6
  • Regional scale structure, related to Teranga’s Massawa Project, is interpreted to pass through ~11 km of the western portion of the Property

*Mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily representative of mineralization hosted on the Company’s SMSZ Property7

Mali gold reserves are 822 tonnes in 2017: https://www.reuters.com/article/mali-gold-idUSL5N1FV3FA

  1. Sadiola/Yatela mine contains Indicated mineral resources of 113,725 tonnes grading 1.9 g/t Au for 6.79 million ounces at Sadiola. Historic production source: company annual reports and corporate filings. www.iamgold.com July 27, 2020. Past production at Sadiola - Anglo Gold and Iamgold corporate filings of 4.7 Mozs. Past production at Yatela from AngloGold Ashanti Corporate filings – 2.2 Mozs.
  2. Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto mine complex with past production of 6.9 million ounces and Measured res of 24 Mt @ 4.09 g/t for 3.2 Moz Au of Au and Ind res of 36 Mt @ 4.69 g/t for 5.4 Moz Au. Barrick website - https://barrick.q4cdn.com/788666289/files/quarterly-report/2018/Randgold-2018-Reserves-Resources.pdf
  3. Estimated Indicated mineral resources of 19.9Mt @ 3.01 g/t Au totalling 1.9 million ounces of gold and estimated inferred mineral resources of 7.4 Mt @ 3.4 g/t Au totalling 0.8 Moz - sold to Algom Resources, a subsidiary of BCM, by Endeavour Mining in late 2018. https://miningdataonline.com/property/182/Tabakoto-Mine.aspx#Production. Historic gold production of 0.96 Moz to eoy 2018 – Endeavour and Avion Corporate filings on SEDAR.
  4. B2Gold Fekola mine: 110.6 Mt Ind Res @ 1.7 g/t Au for 6.0 Moz and 28.6 Mt Inf Res @ 1.14 g/t Au for 1 Moz; https://www.b2gold.com/projects/producing/fekola/
  5. Teranga Massawa: M&I 18.66 Mt @ 3.98 g/t Au for 2.39 Moz Au and Inf. 7.54 Mt @ 3.12 g/t Au for 0.7 Moz Au; https://www.terangagold.com/reserves-and-resources
  6. Mali gold production 2019 of 71.1 tonnes - https://www.gold.co.uk/gold-news/2020/july/06/gold-production-mali-expected-plunge/#:~:text=Mali%20is%20Africa%E2%80%99s%20third-largest%20gold%20producer%2C%20after%20South,2018%20its%20industrial%20gold%20production%20rose%20by%2023%25.