Name of the Project
Abujar gold project.

Location
About 30 km from Daloa, a major regional city in central western Côte d’Ivoire.

Project Owner/s
West African gold explorer and developer Tietto Minerals.

Project Description
The Abujar gold project comprises three contiguous exploration tenements – Middle, South and North.

The project has total proven and probable minerals reserves of 34.4-million tonnes grading 1.3 g/t gold, and mineral resources of 87.5-million tonnes grading 1.2 g/t gold.

The project will source feed for the mill from the AG and APG deposits.

The AG deposit provides the majority of the value for the operation and the AG openpit comprises several openpits, all within 1 to 2 km of the proposed plant site, with several satellite pits located along strike to the north and south.

The definitive feasibility study (DFS), completed on the project in October 2021, proposes a conventional semiautogenous grinding milling circuit, and gravity and carbon-in-leach processing, with a throughput capacity of four-million tonnes a year for fresh ore and 4.8-million tonnes for oxide and transition blend once ramp-up is completed.

Tietto will examine potential for the Abujar mill throughput to increase above DFS levels once the plant is operational, as demonstrated by other West African projects.

Average gold production over the 11-year mine life is estimated at 1.7-million ounces.

Forecast gold production in the first year is estimated at 260 000 oz and 1.2-million ounces over the first six years.

A contractor will conduct openpit mining using conventional openpit mining techniques common in West Africa.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $959-million and an internal rate of return of 155%, with an after-tax payback of nine months.

Capital Expenditure
Capital costs are estimated at $200-million, including contingencies.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction of the plant is expected to take 12 months and first production is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Latest Developments
Tietto Minerals is now fully funded to start gold production at its Abujar project in 2022, following a A$85-million share placement.

The company has received binding commitments for the issue of 218-million shares, at 39c each, in a two-tranche share placement.

The company will issue the first 115.9-million shares under its existing placement capacity, with the remaining 101.9-million shares to be issued subject to shareholder approval at a meeting scheduled for January.

The A$85-million raised, along with an existing cash reserve of A$32.8-million, will be used to build the Abujar project, continue exploration work and fund working capital.

The share placement will also complement Tietto’s debt strategy of a A$130-million to A$140-million debt facility, secured through Taurus Mining Finance.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Tietto  Minerals, tel +61 8 9331 6710 or email admin@tietto.com.