Name of the Project
Batie West gold project.

Location
Burkina Faso, within the Southern Noumbiel Province, bordering Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.

Project Owner/s
Centamin.

Project Description
Batie West comprises the Konkera Main, Konkera North and Kouglaga orebodies.

The PEA has concluded that the project is viable with an 8.5-year life-of-mine (LoM), producing about 140 000 oz/y of gold.

The Batie West preliminary economic assessment (PEA) is based only on the measured and indicated resources estimate of 56.7-million tonnes at 1.2 g/t and inferred resources of 2.8-million tonnes at 1.1 g/t. The PEA does not include Konkera Main East, which is relatively small and was found to be uneconomic to process and not included in the current mine planning.

The study envisages an openpit, contractor mining operation with optimisation studies completed for Konkera Main, Konkera North and Kouglaga to accommodate a staged development for each deposit, allowing for efficient resource extraction at acceptable stripping ratios. 

Previous testwork alongside a more recent review has resulted in using conventional free milling and carbon-in-leach processing, and an additional sulphide floatation and ultrafine grind concentrate for the fresh ore.

Like Centamin’s Doropo project, a process rate of 4.9-million tonnes a year is envisaged for the free milling material, dropping to 4.4-million tonnes a year in the fresh material. Based on metallurgical testwork, recoveries are forecast to be 81%, including the free milling material and fresh ores.

A total of 1.2-million ounces of gold are forecast to be recovered over the LoM.

Power is expected to be generated through a 27 MW liquefied natural gas power station, which will be built and operated by an independent power provider.

A lined tailings storage facility has been proposed and designed to ANCOLD specification, with a cyanide destruction circuit for tailings management.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $63-million and an internal rate of return of 11% at a S$1 450/oz gold price.

Capital Expenditure
Initial development costs are estimated at $265-million, including a 15% contingency.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The PEA has confirmed that Batie West has viable economics and strong potential to become a profitable producing mine, but ranked against Centamin’s project pipeline and in-house hurdles for capital allocation, is noncore for the company and it will strategically assess third-party opportunities to develop or realise the project's value. 

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Centamin, tel +44 1534 828700 or email info@centamin.com.