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.

As of July 2013, measured and indicated resources of 13.4-million ounces, and inferred resources of 1.9-million ounces; as of September 2013 it had reserves of 8.2-million ounces.

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 that 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 continuing to be funded from cost recoveries.

Duration
The project began commissioning at the end of 2013.

Latest Developments
Centamin reported the progressive increase in plant throughput at the Sukari mine in the quarter ended September 30, 2014, as Stage 4 commissioning activities resulted in the expanded plant reach, and exceeded the ten-million-tonne-year nameplate capacity.

Quarterly throughput of 2.39-million tonnes reflected another record for the operation and Centamin expects this trend to continue in the coming quarters, as the new plant process is fully optimised. Processing costs on a per-tonne-milled basis continue to trend downwards, in line with the company’s expectations, indicating the improving efficiency of the expanded operation.

Head grades to the plant improved steadily during the quarter, as access was gained to higher-grade sections of the openpit and underground mines. Record openpit and underground mining rates reflect a solid operational performance through enhanced productivity within the prevailing constraints.

After the reporting period government approved increased ammonium nitrate usage, which will enable openpit material movement to increase to the required level to sustain feed to the expanded plant.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

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