The Zaranou gold project now holds 1,2 million ounces in resources, or approximately 37 tonnes of gold, following a 228% increase in less than a year. Driven by the Australian firm Skylark Minerals, which has increased its stake, this asset located 110 kilometers northeast of Abidjan is entering a new phase of exploration.
Several stages remain necessary, however, before considering the construction of a mine.
Zaranou has just crossed an important threshold in the long trajectory that can lead a gold discovery to industrial exploitation. In a note published on October 19, 2026 and reviewed by Sika Finance, the Australian company Skylark Minerals now estimates the project's resources at 29 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 1,28 grams of gold per tonne.
These resources do not yet constitute mineral reserves. Closer-spaced drilling and technical studies remain necessary to determine the portion of the ore that can effectively be extracted profitably.
At this stage, the identified volume would contain nearly 1,2 million ounces of gold, or approximately 37 tonnes. In less than twelve months, the announced resources have more than tripled, compared to 364 600 ounces previously.
This 228% increase places Zaranou in a new category among promising Ivorian gold projects still in the exploration phase.
This development provides, above all, an initial measure of the scale of the permit's potential and gives Skylark a sufficiently large base to intensify its work. The company highlights, in particular, that gold grades increase in the deeper parts of the explored deposit, exceeding 2,5 grams per tonne in certain levels.
The bulk of this increase comes from the M'Basso deposit on the permit, where Skylark conducted its first systematic drilling campaign. M'Basso's resources now reach 872 600 ounces, compared to only 11 700 ounces before this campaign, representing an increase of approximately 861 000 ounces.
In total, Skylark has spent approximately 7 million Australian dollars, or about 3 billion FCFA, on discovery and delineation work conducted at M'Basso.
The program planned for 2027 will focus primarily on the search for new resources at various sites, including M'Basso. This is especially true given that, the company emphasizes, the Zaranou permit covers approximately 287 km² and spans nearly 47 kilometers of a geological corridor deemed favorable, whereas the new estimate is based primarily on the two kilometers studied at M'Basso.
In parallel with the increase in resources, Skylark has strengthened its economic control over the project acquired in late 2025. The company concluded a binding agreement allowing it to directly increase its stake from 51% to 90%, in exchange for a payment of 1,2 million dollars, approximately 680 million FCFA.
The initial structure provided for a gradual increase in capital, conditional upon the successive completion of an exploratory study, a pre-feasibility study, and then a feasibility study. The revised agreement allows Skylark to reach 90% without waiting for the completion of these three stages.
The company also retains the option to acquire the remaining 10%.
This transaction gives it much greater exposure to the resources already identified and those that may be discovered during future campaigns. It also reflects the company's confidence in the potential of Zaranou.
Skylark presents the project as the central asset of its strategy aimed at building a gold portfolio in West Africa.
Zaranou thus appears to be the first successful venture for Skylark Minerals in Ivory Coast. The project belongs to a portfolio of three assets acquired in late 2025 by the Australian junior: Zaranou, in which it initially held 51% with the possibility of increasing to 100%; the Maphai project, held in its entirety in the southeast of the country; and the Vavoua project, located about twenty kilometers north of the Abujar mine, near Daloa, in an area considered highly prospective for gold.
The results obtained at Zaranou thus provide an initial concrete foundation for the group's Ivorian strategy.
Published on 22/10/26 16:59
Jean Mermoz Konandi