Name and Location
Bomboré gold project, Burkina Faso.

Client
Orezone Gold.

Project Description
The 105 km² Bomboré gold property is the largest undeveloped gold deposit in Burkina Faso. Metallurgical testing has revealed that the deposit is amenable to heap leaching, with indicated recoveries grading at 82% for oxide, 80% for transition and 93% recoveries for carbon-in-leach (CIL) mining.

The project plans to develop an openpit oxide heap-leach operation and a large CIL operation, with a total capacity of more than nine-million tons of ore a year.

The base case heap-leach project will have an eight-year mine life and average yearly production of 118 000 oz of gold, while it is envisioned that the larger CIL operation will operate for more than nine years and produce an average of 240 000 oz/y of gold.

Value
The initial capital expenditure (capex) for the heap-leach and CIL projects are estimated at $204.7-million and $499.5-million respectively.

Duration
First gold production from the mine is planned for 2015.

Latest Developments
Orezone has raised C$5-million through the issuance of ten-million new ordinary common shares at a price of C$0.50 per share.

The company will use the proceeds to advance technical studies towards completion of the feasibility study for an oxide-only heap-leach operation at the  Bomboré gold project and for general corporate purposes.

The company expects to update its preliminary economic assessment (PEA) before the end of the year and complete the feasibility study in 2014.

In June this year, Orezone shifted the focus of the Bomboré feasibility study to review and reassess the lower capital cost heap-leach (HL) scenario outlined in the August 2011 PEA. 

The ongoing feasibility work for an oxide-only CIL circuit, with a capacity of eight-million tonnes a year for ten years, has included the geotechnical and metallurgical studies, tailings design, mine planning and environmental assessment, which are mostly complete, could be compiled into a finalised prefeasibility or full feasibility document at any time if warranted. 

The study work to date indicates that the initial capital required to build the CIL scenario is similar to that outlined in the PEA.  However, while this could be a very robust project for a producing company, the required financing is not practical for Orezone, given the current condition of the capital markets.  The heap-leach scenario, based on the PEA, is expected to have a substantially lower initial capex and benefit from the significantly larger oxide resource, which is currently double that used in the PEA.

The company plans to update the PEA heap-leach scenario as soon as possible and to continue towards a full feasibility study, subject to positive results.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Orezone Gold (Burkina Faso), tel +226 50 35 5642 or fax +226 50 35 5644; or CEO Ron Little, tel +1 613 241 3699 or email rlittle@orezone.com.