Perseus Mining extends life of Yaouré gold mine to 2035
Africa-focused gold producer Perseus Mining has announced it had extended Yaouré’s operational life to 12+ years (to at least 2035), with potential for further extension through additional discoveries.
Perseus said in a press release that when the company acquired the Yaouré gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire as a development project in 2016, the possibility of extending the life of the mine through development of an underground operation “was not part of the plan.”
“However, our discovery, and subsequent engineering and planning, that has led to today’s announcement, bears testament to Perseus’s in-house ability to create significant value through organic growth,” it added.
According to the company, Yaouré’s updated life of mine plan incorporates for the first time an underground mining operation below the CMA open pit, as well as the existing CMA open pit and an expanded Yaouré open pit.
Importantly, Yaouré gold mine ore reserves now total 37.2 million tonnes of ore grading 1.73 g/t gold, containing 2.07 million ounces of gold from open pits and underground.
The mine’s updated measured and indicated mineral resources are estimated at 54.7 million tonnes grading 1.59 g/t gold, containing 2.80 million ounces of gold, while inferred resources are estimated at 11.3 million tonnes, grading 1.9 g/t gold, containing 0.70 million ounces of gold.
Managing Director and CEO Jeff Quartermaine said, “Our increase to the life of Yaouré gold mine to 12+ years announced today ensures Yaouré will continue to be an important part of Perseus’s geopolitically diverse asset portfolio for many years to come and will enable us to continue delivering on our corporate mission of generating material benefits for all of our stakeholders, including our host governments and communities.”
Perseus Mining is an Australian mining company that currently operates three gold mines in Africa: Edikan in Ghana, and Sissingué and Yaouré in Côte d’Ivoire. Perseus has recently acquired Orca Gold, and now owns 70% of the Meyas Sand gold project in Sudan.
