Name and Location
Sukari gold mine Stage 4 expansion, Egypt.

Client
Centamin Egypt.

Project Description
The Sukari gold mine is the first modern gold mine operation in Egypt.

The mine consists of a 2.5-km-long porphyry granite hill, situated about 700 km south of Cairo and 25 km west of Marsa Alam, on the Red Sea. It includes a large-scale openpit mine and an underground mine which produce high-grade ore.

The ore is processed on site at the processing plant, which has a current capacity of five-million tons a year that will be expanded to ten-million tons a year by 2016 in the Stage 4 expansion.

The aim is to ramp up production at Sukari between 450 000 oz/y and 500 000 oz/y of gold from 2015 onwards, at which level current reserves would support a mine life of more than 20 years.

Value
Expenditure to date is $274.4 million of the total unchanged forecast of $325 million, including contingency, with the remaining balance to continue to be funded from cost recoveries.

Duration
The commissioning and subsequent ramp-up of Stage 4 of the processing plant has been amended to better reflect a plant that should be running at close-to-design capacity by the end of 2013.

Latest Developments
The Stage 4 plant expansion remains on track for the bulk of commissioning to start and be completed in the second half of 2013.

As part of the implementation of Stage 4, Centamin is in discussions with Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority and other government departments to secure the necessary permits to increase daily ammonium nitrate consumption and blasting accessories, which will increase openpit mining rates to the required level to feed the expanded plant. As part of this process, which is expected to be completed during the year, a new blast accessories import permit was issued by the Ministry of Interior in April.

The permit for the additional daily issue of ammonium nitrate is still outstanding, although Centamin believes this to be in the final stages of government approval.

Meanwhile, the erection of structural steel continues and most of the  mechanical equipment has been installed, although some steel and some mechanical equipment are yet to be delivered. Installation of piping is under way and work on the new tailings line has started.

Procurement of electrical equipment, cables and instrumentation is
proceeding and the erection of MCC buildings is almost complete.

The installation of the semiautogenous and ball mills is complete and liners have been installed in the ball mill.

The installation of cables from the new Wärtsillä plant to the main process plant is progressing well. The link between the two power plants is awaiting delivery of specialised fuses from the US.

Installation and pressure testing of the new pipeline has been completed. At the seawater intake, the installation of the five new pumps has been completed. At the booster station, one pump has been installed and two more are expected to be installed.

The new tailings facility is fully operational and construction of a new line from the plant has started.

Construction of the new crusher building is ongoing and has reached the level of the bottom of the dump hopper.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
The project remains on track for commissioning at the end of this year.

Expenditure to date is $300.1-million of the total unchanged forecast
of $325-million, including contingency, with the remaining balance to continue to be funded from cost recoveries.

Contact Details for Project Information
Centamin Egypt, tel +618 9316 2640, fax +618 9316 2650 or email centamin@centamin.com.au.