As part of the fieldwork, Aura has now mobilised two geophysical crews from South Africa to undertake detailed gravity surveying on all three of Aura's tenements at Tasiast South.

The gravity data will allow better definition of geology and the identification of structures likely to be of relevance to gold deposition, Aura said in a statement on July 12.

The northernmost tenement, Nomads Farmin, where Aura is earning a 70% interest, has had no meaningful exploration to date, despite it covering 50 km2 of Archean greenstone belt.

The area is one of almost no outcrop and the gravity survey is expected to closely define the greenstone belt, lithologies and structures permitting the planning of follow-up bedrock sampling and deeper drilling.

The company will also be undertaking an extensive induced polarisation (IP) survey planned around mineralised zones located by aircore and reverse circulation drilling.

Before committing to a large programme, test lines of dipole-dipole IP surveying will shortly start to test near-surface electrical properties to ascertain the effectiveness of IP.