TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-V-listed Roxgold has poured first gold totalling 1 020 oz at the Yaramoko gold project, in Burkina Faso.
The pour took place thirteen months from breaking ground and the Yaramoko mine was built on budget and ahead of schedule; it was also one of the highest-grade gold mines in the world, the company advised.
As at March 31, Roxgold maintained a healthy balance sheet with cash of about $42-million and debt of about $59-million.
The company expected to ramp up to commercial production in the third quarter.
Located in the Houndé greenstone belt of Burkina Faso, the company had delivered a feasibility study for Yaramoko's 55 Zone in April 2014. The study outlined an after-tax internal rate of return of 48.4% with a 1.6-year payback on initial capital, based on a gold price of $1 300/oz. The study also calculated an after-tax net present value of $250-million.
Capital expenditures were pegged at $106.5-million to construct a 99 500 oz/y operation over a seven-and-a-half-year mine life.
The mine plan was based on probable reserves of two-million tonnes grading 11.8 g/t gold, containing 759 000 oz of the yellow metal.