Name and Location
Natougou gold project, Burkina Faso.

Client
Orbs Gold.

Project Description
The Natougou gold deposit is one of the highest-grade openpit gold deposits across West Africa. It has a total mineral resource of 18-million tonnes grading 3.4 g/t of gold.

The updated scoping study on the project envisages a low-risk, high-return development of a large-scale conventional openpit gold mine using drill, blast, load and haul methods.

Mining will advance in five stages (four cutbacks) to optimise the waste stripping and mill feed grade profile over the life-of-mine.

Waste and ore bench heights have been assumed at 5 m and 2.5 m respectively.

The final openpit footprint will be about 1 900 m long (south-east to north-west) and up to 950 m wide (north-east to south-west) with mineralisation mined from the surface down to only a maximum 100 m. The pit will be divided into two segments – developed over the west and east lodes to minimise waste.

There are significant opportunities to further enhance project economics by further optimising the movement of material, for example, by using in-pit waste storage.

Such opportunities will be progressed as part of the ongoing definitive feasibility study (DFS).

The updated scoping study assumes mine production will be treated using a conventional process route comprising crushing, semiautogenous (SAG)/ball grinding, carbon-in-leach, elution/electrowinning and smelting to produce gold bullion.

The study envisages a single stage of crushing followed by a two-stage grinding circuit consisting of a primary SAG mill and pebble crusher and a secondary ball mill.

This circuit will produce leach-feed product having a P80 passing 75 µm.

Metallurgical recoveries of 94% for gold and 58% for silver have been assumed over the life of the operation.

Process plant tailings will be deposited in a subaerial tailings storage facility (TSF), located about 1 km south-west of the proposed plant site.

The TSF will be constructed with confining embankments in an octagonal arrangement adjacent to the proposed waste-rock facility. The tailings dam walls will be raised by upstream lifts over the life of the project.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The updated scoping study estimates an after-tax net present value at 5% of $533-million and an internal rate of return of 100%, with payback in eight months.

Value
The updated scoping study estimates preproduction capital at $233.9-million, including 15% contingency and waste prestrip.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The positive results received from the updated Natougou scoping study reinforce and greatly enhance the opportunity to develop a large-scale low-cost openpit gold mine.

Key activities in progress or nearing completion include environmental baseline surveys, metallurgical testwork and process flowsheet selection, with the final stage of resource definition drilling and basic engineering scheduled to start in November 2014.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Orbis Gold, tel +61 7 3198 3040, fax +61 7 3236 5036 or email info@orbisgold.com.