The junior mining company has entered into three option agreements allowing it to gradually acquire up to 85% of five exploration projects covering 1 508 km². Presented as "promising," these sites are located near major mines or discoveries such as Tongon, Boundiali, Koné, Séguéla, and Ity.
A new Australian player is taking a position in Ivorian gold. Eminence Minerals Limited, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, has concluded three exclusive option agreements covering five exploration projects located in the north and west of Ivory Coast.
The operation covers a cumulative area of 1 508 km². It is intended to allow Eminence to gradually increase its holdings to 85%, subject to the fulfillment of conditions stipulated in the agreements.
A portion of the payments due to the vendors will remain linked to the future results of exploration work, allowing the company to phase its investments according to the progress made in the field. The portfolio includes four permits already granted, covering approximately 871 km², and five permit applications still under review.
Eminence is therefore not purchasing five mines ready for production. It is acquiring rights to areas that will require geological surveys, sampling, and eventually drilling to determine if they contain economically exploitable gold resources.
The portfolio's appeal lies primarily in its location. The five projects are located in gold districts already explored or exploited by international groups.
For an exploration company, this proximity constitutes a favorable geological indicator: gold deposits can be part of vast mineralized structures that traverse multiple permits. It does not, however, guarantee the discovery of a new deposit.
Only field work will confirm the presence, grade, and continuity of any potential mineralization. In the north, the Tarato project covers 154 km² in the Korhogo region.
Its two granted permits are located approximately 50 km southwest of the Tongon mine, operated until recently by Barrick Gold, which sold it to Atlantic Group, owned by tycoon Koné Dossongui. At Kounouman, Eminence is targeting two permit applications covering 160 km².
The project is located approximately 7 km from a deposit (BST1) held by Aurum Resources, integrated into the Boundiali project. The latter hosts reported resources of 3,22 million ounces of gold, or approximately 100 tons.
The same area also hosts the exploration project of Perseus Mining. The Banandjé project is the largest in the portfolio, with 451 km².
It occupies a particularly strategic position: approximately 10 km northwest of the giant Koné gold mine complex developed by Montage Gold and nearly 25 km north of the Séguéla mine operated by Fortuna Mining. Koné has just entered a first phase of production and is set to become one of the country's most significant gold mines.
Séguéla is already in operation. By positioning itself between these two assets, Eminence is betting on the potential continuity of the geological structures that facilitated the discoveries made in this part of the territory.
Further south, Sarhala covers 319 km² in the Dianra-Mankono district. The project includes one permit already granted within a Birimian formation, this ancient geological ensemble that concentrates a large portion of West Africa's gold deposits, explains Eminence.
Historical artisanal mining has also been reported there and must be verified. Finally, in the west, the Tonkpi project represents 424 km² in the Danané-Ity district.
The permit applications are located approximately 18 km from Endeavour Mining's Ity mine, the oldest gold operation and the largest still active in Ivory Coast. The latter produced 319 000 ounces in 2025 and is targeting between 285 000 and 330 000 ounces in 2026.
Once the acquisitions are finalized, Eminence plans to start with the areas for which authorizations are already available, notably at Tarato, Banandjé, and Sarhala. The company will first need to gather and verify existing geological, geochemical, and geophysical data.
Teams will then be deployed to map the terrain, collect samples, and classify the various targets according to their potential. This initial selection should allow for the concentration of expenditures on areas presenting the strongest indicators before engaging in more costly drilling campaigns.
"Our immediate technical priority will be to consolidate and validate historical information," explains Anthony Hills, Managing Director of Eminence Minerals. The goal is to prioritize targets and direct capital toward sectors offering the best geological prospects.