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Highlights

  • SFM enters binding agreements to acquire the Eburnea Gold Project from Turaco Gold Ltd and its subsidiaries
  • Santa Fe Minerals to gain 100% of Satama Permit and 65% of Bouake North Application
  • SFM shares up 367.74% at AUD 0.14 following acquisition news on 3 July 2025

Santa Fe Minerals Limited (ASX:SFM) has entered into binding share purchase agreements (SPAs) to acquire the Eburnea Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire from Turaco Gold Ltd and its subsidiaries. The acquisition includes full ownership of the Satama Permit and a 65% interest in the Bouake North Application.

The Eburnea Gold Project comprises two main exploration areas—Permit PR544 (Satama) and Application PRA575 (Bouake North). The Satama Permit, covering 168.7km², is wholly owned and will be transferred fully to Santa Fe. The Bouake North Application spans 380.8km², of which Santa Fe will hold a 65% interest.

Extensive exploration across both tenements has identified multiple gold mineralised zones, many of which remain underexplored. Work conducted to date includes soil and auger geochemistry, geophysical surveys, and various phases of Air Core (AC) and Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling.

At the Satama Permit, the Main Zone is the most advanced target, with drilling over a 2km strike indicating continuous shallow oxide and deeper fresh rock gold mineralisation. Most drilling has occurred to depths of approximately 80 metres, though select deeper drillholes show mineralisation continues below this level. The easternmost section of the Main Zone contains hematite-goethite-quartz vein alteration hosted in shale and sandstone, while the deeper sections show carbonate-sericite-quartz-pyrite alteration in fresh rock.

Notably, a 2023 RC drillhole (STRC0095) intersected 26 metres at 4.82g/t Au, the highest result recorded on the project so far. This intercept, located on a potential new parallel gold zone north of the Main Zone, remains open along strike and at depth and is designated a priority follow-up drilling target.

In addition to the Main Zone, geophysical and geochemical work west of the zone has revealed multiple sub-parallel anomalies with up to 3km strike lengths. An IP anomaly approximately 1km west of the Main Zone returned auger samples as high as 13g/t Au. First-pass AC drilling in 2023 (72 holes totaling 4,447m) confirmed mineralisation associated with sandstone lithology thought to be equivalent to the Main Zone host rocks. Further exploration is planned for these zones.

Turaco Gold initially began work at Satama in 2021 with an infill auger program that defined more than 10km of parallel gold anomalies. Initial AC (16,983m) and RC (10,216m) drilling was conducted in 2021–2022. Follow-up RC drilling (1,482m) was undertaken in 2022 to test for higher-grade shoots.

The Bouake North Application lies in the Fetekro greenstone belt, in proximity to Endeavour Mining’s Lafigue Gold Mine (3Moz @ 2.0g/t Au). This region is considered prospective for further discoveries. Geology at Bouake North comprises sandstones and shales intruded by quartz feldspar porphyry in the north and mafic volcanics and lamprophyre dykes in the south.

Gold mineralisation in the north appears along lithological contacts and within sandstone units, typically at shallow depths of 20–30 metres. Exploration to date includes soil sampling, auger drilling, and reconnaissance AC and RC drilling. Auger programs from 2021 and 2022 defined six +100ppb gold anomalies with a cumulative strike length of over 6km. Two of these zones, measuring 1.4km and 2km in strike, were tested by 235 AC holes and 20 RC holes. The best result to date from Bouake North is 3m @ 35.79g/t Au.

Following the acquisition announcement, Santa Fe’s shares surged 367.74% at AUD 0.14 on 3 July 2025.