Name of the Project
Okvau gold project.

Location
Mondulkiri province, in eastern Cambodia.

Project Owner/s
Renaissance Minerals, a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX-listed Emerald Resources.

Project Description
Okvau has an independent Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant initial ore reserve of 14.3-million tonnes at 2 g/t gold for 907 000 oz at an average all-in sustaining cost of $754/oz over an initial seven-year life-of-mine.

The project involves the development of an openpit and a two-million-tonne-a-year processing plant to produce 106 000 oz/y of gold on average.

The deposit will be mined using conventional openpit mining methods from one pit at a relatively constant mining rate. Mining will be undertaken by drilling and blasting ore and waste, with loading and hauling undertaken by a mining contractor.

The proposed processing plant will use a single-stage crushing circuit and semiautogenous grinding milling circuit, sulphide flotation and regrind mill, followed by conventional cyanide leaching.

Tailings from the process plant will be disposed of in a dedicated tailings storage facility.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
A review of the definitive feasibility study (DFS), at a higher gold price of $1 450/oz, has increased the projected net present value of the project, from $217-million to $337-million, and the internal rate of return from 48% to 69%, compared with the original DFS, which was based on a spot price of $1 250/oz. The project has a pretax payback of 1.4 years.

Capital Expenditure
Total development costs have been estimated at $98-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The project is expected to have its first gold pour in 2021.

Latest Developments
Operations at the Okvau gold mine are ramping up to full production following the completion of the gold plant.

Gold production, since the commissioning of oxide ore in June 2021, is estimated at 19 000 oz, with about 23 000 oz expected until the end of the current quarter. This includes ore production for the first 15 days of September, averaging 420 oz/d recovered, and confirming the suitability of the plant for gold production of more than 100 000 oz/y.

Since Emerald’s maiden gold pour in June 2021, six shipments totalling 8 144 oz of gold have been received by the refinery, with out-turns received. A total of 6 958 oz of gold have been sold to date at an average price of $1 795/oz. A further 5 132 oz of gold doré has been poured ahead of mint out-turn.

“Importantly, we are either meeting or exceeding the Okvau gold mine definitive feasibility study,” Emerald MD Morgan Hart has said.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Emerald Resources, tel +61 8 9286 6300, fax +61 8 9286 6333 or email info@emeraldresources.com.au.