KEFI Gold and Copper has unveiled the discovery of a third significant copper-gold deposit within the expansive Hawiah Copper-Gold district in Saudi Arabia.

This follows the original Hawiah discovery when drilling commenced in 2019 and the subsequent Al Godyer discovery announced in 2022.

The discovery of the Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposit, through the company’s joint venture Gold and Minerals Ltd. (GMCO), underscores the district’s rich mineral potential.

The Abu Salal deposit is located 50km south of GMCO’s Hawiah Copper-Gold project in the central portion of the Wadi Bidah Mineral Belt, straddling GMCO’s Abu Salal North and South exploration licences.

Initial drilling unveiled intercepted massive and semi-massive sulphide mineralisation containing copper, gold, zinc, and silver in multiple horizons across a 2,600m strike length, with true widths of up to 11m, indicated by the first-pass 18-hole (2,009m) scout drilling programme

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

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. The 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 among 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 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 expand 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.

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“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.”