Name of the Project
Sanbrado gold project.

Location
Burkina Faso.

Project Owner/s
West African Resources.

Project Description
The optimised feasibility study envisages an initial ten-year mine life, including 6.5 years of underground mining, with strong early cash flow and a rapid payback of capital.

Four separate mineral resources have been estimated for the Sanbrado project comprising Mankarga 1 North, Mankarga 1 South, Mankarga 3 and Mankarga 5.

The current mineral resource is estimated at 39.4-million tonnes grading 1.9 g/t gold for 2.41-million ounces of gold in the indicated category, and 15.7-million tonnes grading 1.3 g/t gold for 680 000 oz of gold in the inferred category.

The project’s reserves have been updated to a probable ore reserve of 21.6-million tonnes grading 2.4 g/t gold.

The project comprises several openpits, all within 1 km to 2 km of the plant site, and an underground mine accessed through a boxcut and portal south-west of the M1 South openpit.

The processing plant comprises a conventional semiautogenous ball mill crusher milling circuit, as well as gravity and carbon-in-leach processing, with a nominal throughput capacity of 2.2-million tonnes a year.

Underground mining will be completed in Year 6 of gold production.

Openpit mining will continue until midway of Year 10 of production, with processing conducted for a full ten years.

Mining and processing of the high-grade M1 South probable ore reserve will be prioritised, generating significant early cash flow.

Sanbrado is expected to produce 301 000 oz in the first year of operations, with average yearly production expected to increase to 217 000 oz/y of gold over the first five years of the mine life, compared with 211 000 oz/y in the June 2018 feasibility study.

Production over the life-of-mine is estimated at 1.53-million ounces, compared with 1.46-million ounces in the June 2018 feasibility study.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.
 

All-in Sustaining Costs/All-in Costs
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The optimised feasibility study shows the project to have a pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $612-million (June 2018 feasibility study: $567-million) and an internal rate of return of 82.8%, with a payback of 14 months (June 2018 feasibility study: 16 months) following commissioning.

Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure, including all openpit and underground preproduction mining and development costs, contingencies, duties and taxes, is estimated at $186-million (June 2018 feasibility study: $185-million).

Planned Start/End Date
First gold pour is scheduled for the third quarter of 2020.

Latest Developments
West African Resources has completed the commissioning of the primary crusher at its Sanbrado gold project ahead of schedule.

First gold production has now been brought forward and is expected early in the second quarter of 2020, instead of the third quarter as previously scheduled.

Meanwhile, underground development is also continuing to progress to schedule, and first development ore is on track for late March, while the first stoping ore is forecast for the third quarter of this year.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Construction of Sanbrado is progressing on time and within budget, with first gold expected by mid-2020.

Contact Details for Project Information
West African Resources, tel +61 8 9481 7344 or email info@westafricanresources.com.