PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study at junior Orbis Gold’s Natougou project, in Burkina Faso, has delivered positive results, prompting the ASX-listed company to launch further studies.
The scoping study assessed two alternate mill throughput scenarios, one of 1.5-million tonnes and the other of 2-million tonnes a year, and used a base case gold price assumption of $1 300/oz.
Under the 1.5-million-tonne-a-year scenario, a capital investment of $211.6-million would be required to support a mine life of just over eight years, delivering an average gold production of 154 000 oz/y.
Under this scenario, the Natougou project would have a net preset value of $259-million and an internal rate of return of 43%.
Under the two-million-tonne-a-year scenario, Orbis would be required to invest $232.5-million in capital to achieve yearly output of 213 000 oz, over a life-of-mine of six years.
The two-million-tonne-a- year production scenario delivered a net present value of $356-million and an internal rate of return of 60%.
Orbis told shareholders on Tuesday that unexplored areas of the broader Natougou project area could offer substantial potential to expand the current mineral resource inventory and the scope of any subsequent project development.
As such, the company would continue with its ongoing exploration programmes in the region, including step-out drilling from the known deposits and regional exploration within the adjacent large-scale gold-in-soil anomaly.
In addition, Orbis would immediately start detailed technical studies on the potential development of Natougou. These would initially focus on project optimisation and would include a detailed review of key infrastructure items, mining costs optimisation and expanded metallurgical test programmes.