Name of the Project
Sanbrado gold project.

Location
Burkina Faso.

Project Owner/s
Gold miner 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 cashflow 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 a 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 ten years.

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

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.

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 reported a 29% increase in gold production for the three months to September, as ramp-up continues at its Sanbrado operation.

Sanbrado mine produced 82 000 oz of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of $69/oz. West African Resources generated A$110-million of operating cash flow, repaid A$25-million of Taurus debt, and held A$130-million in cash and A$23-million in unsettled bullion at the end of the quarter, executive chairperson and CEO Richard Hyde has said.

Underground mined ounces were 16% lower than the previous quarter, while mined ore tonnes decreased by 16%. Ore grade was 10 g/t, in line with the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, ounces mined from openpits were 72% above the previous quarter. Ore tonnes mined from the open pits increased by 48% on the previous quarter while grade increased by 16%, largely driven by grade from Mankarga 1 South, compared with the quarter ended June 2021. Run-of-mine stockpile inventory increased by 22% on the previous quarter.

West African has told shareholders that gold production compares well with the mine plan, and the company now expects yearly gold production for Sanbrado to exceed the 2021 guidance range of 250 000 oz to 280 000 oz of gold.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

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