B2Gold Corp. press release
SISSINGUE FEASIBILITY STUDY
TSX - Toronto Stock Exchange · Gold · Canada
Nov. 8, 2010 (Canada NewsWire Group) --
Tengrela Gold Project, Côte d'Ivoire
/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/
PERTH, Western Australia, Nov. 8 /CNW/ - Perseus Mining Limited (ASX / TSX: PRU) ("Perseus" or the "Company") is pleased to announce completion of its Feasibility Study ("the FS") for the Sissingue Gold deposit which forms part of the Company's Tengrela Gold Project ("TGP") in Côte d'Ivoire. Details are provided below.
Highlights
In summary, the FS, which was managed on behalf of the Company by Mintrex (consulting division of Holtfreters Pty Ltd), confirms the robust project economics of the TGP as well as the upside potential that exists from ongoing resource definition drilling.
Initial Probable Ore Reserve of 657,000oz of gold (using US$950 gold price pit design). Production of 340,000oz (3.5Mt at 3.3g/t) of gold in first two years of a six year mine life. Cash costs (C1) in the first two years of US$421/oz, with mine life average cash costs of US$505 per oz. EBITDA of US$221M for first two years of production at US$1,100 gold price. Start-up capital cost of US$115 million paid back in 14 months at US$1,100 gold price. Plan to advance as fast as practicable, targeting first gold pour Q4 2012. Ongoing aggressive drilling will provide resource growth and extend mine life - next upgrade scheduled for Q1 2011.
Mark Calderwood, Managing Director's Comments
_"The robust outcome of the FS has provided Perseus with the basis for a decision to proceed with project permitting and construction planning for the Sissingue deposit on the Tengrela Gold Project. Even at a gold price under US$900 an ounce, the FS provides a payback period under two years."_
_"Perseus now has combined reserves of 2.79Moz between the TGP and the Central Ashanti Gold Project ("CAGP") in Ghana and we are anticipating another significant reserve upgrade for the CAGP in December 2010."_
_"Though Measured and Indicated Resources were limited as a function of drilling density, we fast tracked the Sissingue FS to enable an early start to be made to the approval process and planning. Assuming that site construction can begin in 12 months, we would expect production to commence in Q4 2012." _
_"The FS has shown the TGP to be economically robust as it stands, however I believe there are still several avenues to enhance the profitability and longevity of the project. For example, we are confident that with further drilling we will convert existing Inferred Mineral Resources to the Indicated category during Q1 2011, thereby potentially adding a further 200,000 ounces to the US$950/oz pit shell model. In addition, extensional drilling following up on recent drill hits is likely to further expand our inventory of Mineral Resources and, ultimately, Reserves." _
_"Also, increasing the drilling density in the high grade zones within the existing Indicated Resource envelope may provide the statistical grounds to increase the top cut that has been applied to drill results, potentially allowing us to include some of the 280,000oz (or 40%) of the gold top cut out of the Mineral Resource used in the calculation of stage 1 and 2 Ore Reserves." _
_"The Company wishes to thank our staff, Mintrex and the other participants in the FS process for their efforts over the past 10 months to deliver the independent and high quality FS document on time and within budget"._
Key Parameters of the Sissingue Feasibility Study
Gold Production
| Year One | 178,400 oz | | Years 1-3 (average) | 147,000 oz pa | | Life of mine (average) | 106,400 oz pa | | Ore Reserves | 657,000oz (Probable) |
Capital Costs and Operating Costs
| Initial Capital Cost | US$115M (incl. US$14M contingency) | | Plant Capacity | 1.6-2.0 million tpa | | Cash Costs C1 | US$421/oz (Years 1&2) US$505/oz (5.6 years) | | Cash Costs + Royalty | US$454/oz (Years 1&2) US$538/oz (5.6 years) based on 3% Government royalty |
Earnings Capability
| EBITDA (assuming US$1,100/oz) | | US$221M (first 2 years) US$337.4M (5.6 years) |
Planned Timing of Development and Production _
| Design & ordering | Q2 2011 | | Construction start | Q4 2011 | | Gold production | Q4 2012 | | Payback | 14 months (at US$1,100 gold price) | | IRR | 65% (at US$1,100 gold price) |
Subject to receipt of all Government approvals by Q4 2011
FS Strategy
The Company took the decision to complete the FS ahead of finalising the Resource drill-out, to enable development of the project to be fast tracked, even though this meant that many of the drill intercepts beneath and surrounding the Sissingue pit could not be included in the project's Ore Reserves before more infill drilling is completed.
During the estimated two year period prior to production, the Company plans to continue its extensive drilling campaign in and around the initial pits and on targets within trucking distance to increase Ore Reserves and to improve head grades beyond the first three years of the project. The average head grade for the 5.2M tonnes of ore projected to be treated in the first three years of the mine life is 2.9 g/t gold, after allowance of ore loss, dilution and the heavy top cutting applied to high grades during resource modelling. In addition no selective mining unit was applied to the resource model.
Outline of FS Results
The TGP involves the development of a 1.75 Mtpa open cut mining operation, an appropriately sized conventional CIL gold processing plant and related infrastructure to mine and process ore from defined Mineral Reserves contained in the Sissingue gold deposit.
The FS assumes a contract mining operation and a process plant with a processing capacity of between 1.6 (fresh) and 2.0 million (oxide) tonnes per annum (Mtpa), to give approximately 5.6 years of mine life, based on currently defined Mineral Reserves.
A summary of the FS technical components is appended to this news release and the commercial results are summarised below:
Table 1: Project Economics Snapshot
| Gold price | US$ 950/oz BaseCase(3) | US$ 1,100/oz BaseCase(3) | US$1,250/oz Base Case(3) | | Ore processed - tonnes @ g/t Au | 9.6Mt @2.1g/t | 9.6Mt @2.1g/t | 9.6Mt @2.1g/t | | Strip Ratio | 4.1:1 | 4.1:1 | 4.1:1 | | Capital Cost | $US 115M | $US 115M | $US 115M | | Mining Costs | $14.92/t ore, $242/oz | $14.92/t ore, $242/oz | $14.92/t ore, $242/oz | | Process Recovery | 90.7% | 90.7% | 90.7% | | Processing Costs | $11.81/t ore, $192/oz | $11.81/t ore, $192/oz | $11.81/t ore, $192/oz | | Administration & Labour Costs | $4.42/t ore, $72/oz | $4.42/t ore, $72/oz | $4.42/t ore, $72/oz | | EBITDA(1) | US$250M | US$337M | US$424M | | EBIT | US$108M | US$195M | US$282M | | IRR(5) | 38% | 65% | 90% | | Payback period | 17 months | 14 months | 11 months | | Royalties paid (State)(2) | $17.0M | $19.7M | $22.4M | | Average Life of Mine (LOM) Cash Operating Cost/oz (C1) | $505/oz | $505/oz | $505/oz |
Notes
| 1) | EBITDA is earnings prior to interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation but includes refining costs and Government royalties. | | 2) | Royalties are based on the current industry rate of 3% payable to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire; no allowance has been made for acquisition royalties totalling approximately 0.5%. | | 3) | The Base Case reflects mining of three pits only and a fixed 0.55g/t Au cut-off grade for ore. It treats mined Inferred Resources as waste. A nominal US$950 (Measured and Indicated Resources only) Whittle optimisation was used for the pit design. | | 4) | C1 definition includes operating costs, administration and refining costs, and excludes royalties. | | 5) | IRR is calculated at the commencement of production. | | 6) | Perseus currently owns 80% of the project after allowance for the Government's right to 10% and 10% held by its joint venture partner. Perseus has an option to acquire a further 5% interest in the Tengrela joint venture property. |
Opportunities
There are a number of areas where the results projected in the FS can be improved. These include:
_Reserves_- Inferred Resources of about 118,000t at 2.3g/t Au containing 18,000 ounces of gold within the existing pit designs are classified as waste in the FS. In addition the US$950 pit optimisation shells inclusive of Inferred resources contained an additional 3.2Mt of material at 2.0g/t containing about 200,000oz of gold, 50% of which is already in the Indicated mineral resource category. Infill drilling of the Inferred Resource zones is likely to contribute to an increase in gold reserves.
Drilling below and along strike from the current FS pit design has highlighted additional potential to increase resources and reserves, with notable intercepts made since the July Mineral Resource estimate worthy of follow-up including:
| Hole | | North (m) | | East (m) | | Depth (m) | | Azm (°) | | Dip (°) | | From (m) | | To (m) | | Width (m) | | Au g/t | | Location | | SLC306 | | 1,154,002 | | 807,006 | | 100 | | 270 | | -55 | | 84 | | 96 | | 12 | | 21.2 | | South of pit | | SLC316 | | 1,154,359 | | 806,165 | | 115 | | 270 | | -50 | | 94 | | 114 | | 20 | | 4.3 | | West of pit | | SAC005 | | 1,154,400 | | 807,385 | | 80 | | 270 | | -60 | | 72 | | 77 | | 5 | | 18.5 | | 600m east | | KRC042 | | 1,144,000 | | 805,760 | | 90 | | 90 | | -55 | | 72 | | 88 | | 16 | | 15.2 | | 10km South |
Notes
| 1) | All details of holes and sampling methods previously announced. | | 2) | True width of intercepts from the current program at the Sissingue deposits is about 55-77% of the intercept width. |
_Mining Selectivity_-No attempt has been made to apply a selective mining approach to the resource block models, such that entire primary blocks of 20m x 10m x 5m (1,000m3) are either assumed to be mined and processed, or considered waste. Grade control may enable processing of a reduced number of tonnes at increased grades, thereby reducing processing costs.
_Milling_- The mining schedule allows for substantial stockpiling of low grade ore in early years, so there will be surplus ore feedstock available should the process plant prove capable of treating ore at throughput rates in excess of "name plate" capacity.
Project Implementation and Procurement
Subject to Board approval the Company plans to advance the implementation of the TGP as fast as practicable, and will start with permitting, engineering design and procurement of long lead items. In addition, as noted above, the Company intends to extend the mine life defined in the FS by aggressively expanding current drilling programs designed to convert Inferred Mineral Resources into Indicated Mineral Resources and ultimately Ore Reserves, and to extend the Mineral Resources at depth and along strike of the existing pit designs.
Access to site is anticipated to occur during Q4 2011, subject to the Government approval process. The Company has formed the basis of a strong "owners team" to undertake the development of the TGP and it is expected that after accessing the site it will take approximately 50 weeks to construct the project plant and infrastructure and start commissioning the processing plant, assuming timely ordering of long lead items.
Completion of construction works at the Company's CAGP in Ghana will broadly coincide with the commencement of site activities for the TGP and it is anticipated that much of the experience gained in constructing the CAGP will contribute positively towards development of the TGP.
Project Financing
As at 30 June 2011, the Company expects to have approximately AUD$100 million on hand after funding the full development of the CAGP in Ghana and additional exploration and corporate costs to June 30, 2011 assuming full drawdown of the US$85M debt facility for the CAGP. A significant proportion of these funds will be available to fund the initial development costs of the TGP.
The balance of capital requirements could come from free cash flow generated by the CAGP (which is scheduled to commence production in the September quarter of 2011) and, if required, from equity or debt finance.
Next Steps
The FS will be used as the basis for applying for all necessary regulatory approvals, including environmental and mining approvals from the Government of Côte d'Ivoire. Concurrent with embarking on the approval process, and subject to Board approval, the Company will commence detailed process plant design and call for tenders for the SAG mill and for an engineering procurement and construction management contract or lump sum turn key contract for the plant construction. The Company expects that detailed negotiations with engineers, suppliers and contractors will likely lead to enhanced project profitability and, where appropriate, other long lead items will be locked in to avoid project delays and provide pricing advantage.
Exploration is ongoing and the next Resource and Reserve estimate for the TGP is scheduled to be announced in Q1 2011.
Mark Calderwood Managing Director
About Perseus Mining Limited
Perseus Mining Limited (ASX/TSX: PRU) has forged a reputation as one of the West Africa's most successful gold explorers. Focused on under-explored gold belts in West Africa, Perseus is on track to become a producer by the third quarter of 2011 at its Central Ashanti Gold Project in Ghana. The Company plans to produce at the initial rate of 220,000 ounces of gold in year 1 in Ghana and plans to increase this to 300,000 ounces per annum by 2013.
Perseus is now also working on development of its Tengrela Gold Project in Côte d'Ivoire, with production targeted for late 2012. Tengrela has the potential to become a significant contributor in the Company's goal to develop into a 400,000 ounce per year gold producer by 2013.
With 25,000m of drilling planned each month across its projects, Perseus will continue its strategy of rapidly increasing its resource and reserve base during the development of the CAGP and Tengrela.
In addition to its projects in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, Perseus retains a 28 per cent stake in Manas Resources Limited (ASX: MSR) which it spun off in 2008 as a focused Kyrgyz Republic gold explorer and developer. Perseus also has a 19.9% stake in, as well as a strategic alliance with, Burey Gold Limited (ASX: BYR), a listed exploration company focussed on Guinea, West Africa.
_The information in this report that relates to Tengrela Gold Project ore reserves is based on information compiled by Mr Harry Warries, who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Warries is the principal mining consultant and a full-time employee of Coffey Mining Perth Office, part of Coffey International Limited. Mr Warries has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'") and to qualify as a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Mr Warries consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears. _
_The information in this report that relates to exploration results and mineral resources is based on information compiled by Mr Mark Calderwood, who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Calderwood is a Director and full-time employee of the Company. Mr Calderwood has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'") and to qualify as a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). _
_Mr Calderwood consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears. For a description of Perseus' data verification process, quality assurance and quality control measures, the effective date of the mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates contained herein, details of the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate the mineral resources and reserves set out in this report and the extent to which the estimate of mineral resources or mineral reserves set out herein may be materially affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues, readers are directed to the technical report entitled "Technical Report - Central Ashanti Gold Project, Ghana" dated November 30, 2009 and the technical report entitled ''Technical Report - Tengrela Gold Project, Côte d'Ivoire'' dated September 02, 2010 in relation to the Central Ashanti Gold Project and the Tengrela Gold Project respectively._
_Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information: This report contains forward-looking information which is based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events and results. Such forward-looking information includes but is not limited to information with respect to future exploration and drilling, procurement of financing, procurement of necessary regulatory approvals, the development of mines at the Central Ashanti Gold Project and Tengrela. _
_Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the actual market price of gold, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future exploration, , changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents.. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Company's ability to carry on its exploration and development activities, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Perseus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws._
APPENDIX 1: SUMMARY OF FS COMPONENTS
FS Participants
Perseus Mining Limited's Principal Metallurgist, Mr Paul Criddle was responsible for the overall co-ordination of the Tengrela Feasibility Study.
Mintrex, as manager of the independent study, used internal and independent participants to complete the FS. Each is considered competent in its respective discipline and where applicable has recent experience in West Africa. Other independent participants to the FS included:
| Mintrex | FS manager, process design, infrastructure cost, implementation and organisation | | Runge Limited | Geology and resources | | Coffey Mining | Geotechnical, hydrogeology, hydrology, TSF designs, pit optimisations, pit, waste dump and haul road design mining costs and scheduling | | AMMTEC Ltd | Metallurgical test-work | | Process and Infrastructure Engineering (PIE) | Metallurgical Testwork management and design criteria review | | BEC Engineering | Electrical engineering | | CECAF International (Côte d'Ivoire) | Environmental baseline and EIS scoping |
Project Location & Ownership
The Tengrela Gold Project is situated within Côte d'Ivoire adjacent to the Mali border, approximately 700 kilometres north of the commercial capital Abidjan and 15 kilometres from the town of Tengrela.