Modern Mining June 2016

WEST AFRICA

Perseus poised to emerge as a major West African player With its recent acquisition of Amara Mining, Perseus Mining, headquartered in Perth, Australia and listed on the ASX and TSX, now has a strong growth pipeline in place in West Africa. The company, which was already the owner of the Edikan gold mine in southern Ghana, a plus 200 000 ounce-a- year producer, and the development-ready Sissingué gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, now also controls the advanced 5,2 Moz Yaouré gold project in Côte d’Ivoire as a result of the Amara acquisition, as well as the Baomahun gold project in Sierra Leone.

A s the company’s only rev- enue-generator, Edikan – a multi-pit operation – will remain the backbone of Perseus for the immedi- ate future. The mine, which produced 212 000 ounces in the year ended 30 June 2015, has ore reserves of 2,27 Moz and Perseus is projecting an average produc- tion of 222 000 oz/a at an all-in sustain- ing cost (AISC) of US$865/oz for the re- mainder of its mine life of 7,5 years. During the first quarter of this year, mining activities took place in Stage 3 – the final stage – of the Fobinso pit and Stage 1 of the Fetish and Chirawewa pits. A total of 37 150 oz of gold was produced during the quarter by processing 1,66 Mt of ore grading on average 0,85 g/t. This was 15 % greater than in the prior period, reflecting an 8,4 % decrease in tonnes of ore processed offset by a 25 % increase in the head grade of ore treated and a 1 % improvement in recovery. Later this year (in the December quar- ter), Perseus expects to start mining the 475 koz Esuajah North deposit. Perseus’s second operating mine will almost certainly be Sissingué (formerly known as the Tengrela gold project) in Côte d’Ivoire. It is located 620 km north of the commercial capital, Abidjan, in the far north of the country close to the border with Mali. A US$3,7 million pro- gramme of early works, including a material part of the front end engineering and design (FEED) programme, construction of site access roads, and initial earthworks, was initiated last year and has now been completed. According to Perseus, it will be commit- ting to the full-scale development of Sissingué as soon as financing arrangements are final- ised, which is expected shortly, with first gold

production likely in 2017. The total upfront capital cost will be approximately US$100 million. The aim is to fund the project devel- opment through a combination of Perseus’s existing cash resources, term bank debt and mezzanine debt. Sissingué – which has ore reserves of 5,5 Mt at 2,4 g/t containing 0,43 Moz of gold – will be a much smaller mine than Edikan. A straight- forward open-pit operation, it will have an average annual production of 75 000 ounces at a life-of-mine all-in site cost of US$632/oz. The processing rate of the plant will be 1,2 Mt/a for oxides and 1,0 Mt/a for fresh ore. The process flowsheet will include single stage crushing, single stage grinding with a pebble crusher, a gravity circuit, six stages of carbon in leach (CIL), and elution and electrowinning. An overall gold recovery of 90 % is expected for fresh ore. Perseus’s third operating mine is likely to be Yaouré, which was clearly the primary target

The Edikan gold mine in Ghana is currently Perseus’s only operating mine (photo: Perseus).

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June 2016  MODERN MINING  39