By Cecilia Tulikowski-Denison
SEMAFO Inc. (TSX:SMF.TO) (OMX:SMF.TO) reports that it has acquired the rights to the Kona II permit, pursuant to an agreement made in December.
The permit will cover an additional 188 square kilometers and will bring the company’s Mana property permit allocation total to 2,119 square kilometers.
The permit is located directly adjacent to the company’s flagship Mana property in the Mouhoun province of Burkina Faso.
The company has also allocated a $36 million exploration budget for the Mana property for 2012 and will include 51,000 meters of core drilling as well 79,000 meters of auger boring.
The company anticipates that extensive drilling will also be conducted on various targets north of the Wona deposit, chiefly in the Bombouela, Kona Ble, Bombouela North and the Bara permits.
SEMAFO is a Canadian-based mining company with gold production and exploration activities in West Africa. The company currently operates three gold mines: the Mana Mine in Burkina Faso, the Samira Hill Mine in Niger and the Kiniero Mine in Guinea.
By Cecilia Tulikowski-Denison of Kitco News; ctulikowski@kitco.com
