JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – London-listed Nordgold has completed the acquisition of Canadan mineral exploration company Goldrush Resources’ Ronguen gold project, 10 km from Nordgold’s Bissa mine, in Burkina Faso.
Nordgold had, in June this year, entered into a share purchase agreement with Goldrush to acquire all the shares of its 100%-owned subsidiary Goldrush Burkina, which owned the Ronguen project, for $4.25-million.
“I am delighted we have completed the acquisition of the Ronguen project. The success of Bissa has clearly demonstrated our ability to develop these types of projects, while it also meets all the stringent criteria we look for in any investment: a large, proven deposit, adjacent to existing infrastructure in a geography where we are used to working,” Nordgold CEO Nikolai Zelenski said.
According to a 2012 technical report, the Ronguen project, which comprised the Tikare and Kongoussi 1 mineral permits, contained gold resources of 384 000 oz at 1.3 g/t gold, including total measured and indicated mineral resources of 332 000 oz of gold at a grade of 1.22 g/t.
To date, Goldrush had invested $7.9-million in project development, with preparations for the feasibility study under way.
Nordgold expected to finalise these preparations in 2015.