Name of the Project
Doropo gold project.

Location
Côte d'Ivoire, between the Comoè National Park and the international border with Burkina Faso.

Project Owner/s
Centamin.

Project Description
Doropo comprises seven exploration permits, covering 2 300 km².

A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) has shown the project to have good development potential, demonstrating a 13-year life-of-mine (LoM) and production of 208 000 oz/y over the first five years of production.

The project has measured and indicated resources of 2.34-million tonnes grading 2.13 g/t gold, and inferred resources of 142.9-million tonnes grading 1.13 g/t gold.

The PEA envisages contractor openpit mining to access multiple pits, with oxide ore recovered by conventional free milling, carbon-in-leach processing and an additional sulphide floatation and ultrafine grind concentrate for the sulphide ore. 

A processing rate of 4.9-million tonnes a year is expected for the free milling material, decreasing to 4.4-million tonnes a year for the fresh material.  Based on metallurgical testwork, overall recoveries are forecast to average 90% in the free milling material and fresh ores over the LoM.

Two-million ounces of ore 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 producer. A lined tailings storage facility has been proposed and designed to ANCOLD specification, with a cyanide destruction circuit for tailings management.

Potential Job Creation
None stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated after-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $234-million and an internal rate of return of 21% at a $1 450/oz gold price.

Capital Expenditure
Initial development costs are estimated at $275-million, including a 15% of contingency.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Centamin has approved $14-million in capital expenditure over the next 12 months to progress the project to a prefeasibility study (PFS). This includes a 70 000 m infill drilling programme, a geotechnical drilling programme, openpit optimisation, further metallurgical testing, environmental and social screening, and scoping assessments.

The company expects to announce the PFS in mid-2022.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

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