Modern Mining November 2018

GOLD

totalled 380 000 ounces of gold, a 9 % increase compared to reserves as at 30 June 2018. The Life of Mine Plan (LOMP) for Sissingué has been updated using the re-estimated min- eral resources and ore reserves. The updated LOMP involves the mining and processing of ore from three open-pit mining areas based on the Sissingué, Fimbiasso East (previously Bélé East) and Fimbiasso West (previously Bélé West) mineral deposits. Under the updated LOMP, Sissingué’s esti- mated life of mine gold production from 1 July 2018 totals 357 000 ounces including approxi- mately 86 000 ounces per annum for the first three years of production and approximately 78 000 ounces per annum over the current 4,6 year life of mine. Forecast average weighted AISC, including all direct production costs, royalties, waste stripping costs and sustaining capital expen- diture, is estimated at approximately US$739 per ounce in the first three years of production and approximately US$756 per ounce over the current life of mine. The total sustaining capital cost estimate is US$21 million and is included in the estimated AISC. The LOMP forecasts strong positive after- tax cash flow totalling approximately US$165 million, assuming a flat spot gold price of US$1 200 per ounce for unhedged ounces over the life of the mine starting from 1 July 2018 and assuming existing designated hedges for 64 000 ounces at a weighted average price of US$1 300 per ounce. The main changes from the previous life of mine plan are the addition of three small satel- lite pits to the main Sissingué pit, an increase

in mining and processing costs and an increase in recovery for specific ore types. According to Perseus, recent exploration drilling on both the Sissingué mining lease and the nearby Fimbiasso exploration licence, all within trucking distance of the Sissingué pro- cessing facility, have the potential to further increase the mine life. “The upgraded mineral resources and ore reserve statements that we have released … indicate that our recent exploration programmes have not only replaced the ore that has been pro- cessed since the mine was commissioned earlier this year but have also modestly increased the inventory,” comments Jeff Quartermaine, MD of Perseus. “Going forward we expect that this pattern will be repeated with incremental increases in mineral resources and ore reserves being achieved through the drill out of satellite deposits resulting in an extension of Sissingué’s mine life well beyond the originally envisaged five-year period.” After Sissingué, Perseus’s third mine will be Yaouré in central Côte d’Ivoire. Based on a positive DFS completed in October 2017, this will be an open-pit operation (although there is scope for underground mining as well) with a 3,3 Mt/a plant. It will have an average annual gold production of 215 000 ounces at an AISC of US$734/oz for the first five years. A recently completed FEED study has estimated the capex to develop Yaouré at US$264 million, which is within 0,5 % of the DFS estimate. Full-scale construction of Yaouré is fore- cast to start early in 2019 with the first gold being produced by December 2020. With con- tinued on-target production from Edikan and Sissingué, combined with the development of Yaouré, Perseus expects to produce 500 000 ounces of gold a year at an AISC in the order of

The Sissingué site showing the mine ‘camp’ in the foreground and the plant in the distance.

“... our recent exploration

programmes have not only replaced the ore that has been processed since the mine was commissioned earlier this year but have also modestly increased the inventory.”

US$850 per ounce by 2022. Photos courtesy of Perseus Mining

November 2018  MODERN MINING  27