DeSoto Resources Confirms Major Exploration Expansion at Siguiri Goldfields Projects

DeSoto Resources (ASX: DES) has announced a major expansion of exploration activity across its projects in the Siguiri goldfields of Guinea in West Africa.

The company recently commenced soil sampling at the wholly owned Yarakoura, Woussoubadou, and Branama projects in southwest Siguiri following the collection of 143 samples from more than 687 square kilometres of drainage catchments during bulk leach extractable gold (BLEG) stream sediment sampling.

The rapid first-pass targeting tool sampled first and second-order drainage systems to define and rank catchments containing elevated gold and pathfinder responses while reducing the influence of coarse or nuggety gold.

DeSoto identified three priority areas to be progressively advanced through soil and rock chip sampling, further geological and regolith mapping, auger drilling, and potentially deeper drill testing.

The BLEG and follow-up soil programs will look to independently test whether the basin’s favourable host rocks and mineralised structures extend into the three project areas.

Timbakouna Drilling Campaign

DeSoto has recommenced power auger drilling of 485 holes for 10,000 metres at the Timbakouna project, targeting 6km of artisanal workings and historical intercepts of up to 18m at 11.8 grams per tonne that were never followed up.

Limited modern exploration was confined to the northern part of the project and did not test below 80m in depth or into fresh rock.

Drilling is expected to ramp up in the coming weeks with two rigs returning to site and line cutting activities commencing without the assistance of heavy machinery.

The company has also completed a 6,262-line-kilometre geophysical survey across the Timbakouna, Dadjan, Tolè, Nèrèkoro Sud, Koba, Kassa Est, and Mini projects to produce magnetic and radiometric datasets and digital terrain models for integration with existing data to generate new drill targets.

All programs are being co-ordinated from DeSoto’s regional headquarters in Kankan, strategically located to support its southern Siguiri exploration campaigns.

Joint Venture Exploration

DeSoto has begun rolling out its southeast Siguiri exploration strategy nearby to Timbakouna with JV partner Fortuna Mining, including stream sediment sampling and systematic mapping of artisanal workings ahead of a planned airborne magnetic survey.

Fortuna holds an initial 70% equity and is responsible for sole funding up to US$12.5 million of exploration expenditure across four contiguous blocks totalling 591 sq km of the Birimian-aged Siguiri Basin, one of West Africa’s most productive gold provinces.

Regional interpretation indicates the permits cover extensions of major geological contacts and long-lived structural corridors considered favourable for the development of orogenic gold systems.

The scale and continuity of these structures, combined with limited previous systematic exploration, provide scope for the identification of new mineralised corridors beneath transported cover and deeply weathered regolith.

Fifth-Largest Landholder

 DeSoto has acquired approximately 1,300 sq km of prospective gold tenure and 22 reconnaissance authorisations and exploration permits in the Siguiri Basin since early 2025, establishing itself as the region’s fifth-largest landholder.

The company is applying a strategic, basin-scale approach to exploration, focused on developing a structural architecture interpretation to support ongoing ground selection, target generation, and exploration prioritisation.

The Siguiri Basin forms part of the Birimian gold province within the West African Craton, recognised as one of the world’s most richly endowed gold provinces.

Gold deposits in the region occur across a range of orogenic and intrusion-related styles reflecting the diversity of greenstone and granitic host rocks.