PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Perseus Mining has announced plans for a final investment decision on its recently acquired Block 14 gold project, in Sudan, by the second half of 2023, while also announcing record financial results for the 2022 financial year.

Perseus MD Jeff Quartermaine told delegates at Paydirt’s Africa Downunder conference, in Perth, that the Block 14 operation could add 200 000 oz/y of gold to Perseus’ production profile, with the project estimated to have a mine life of 13 years, based on a current reserve of 2.85-mllion ounces of gold and a resource of 3.34-million ounces of gold.

“We believe there is enormous potential to expand this resource base quite considerably,” Quartermaine said on Wednesday, adding that the company would be undertaking drilling work to expand on the deposit, while also starting front-end engineering design work.

The Block 14 asset was acquired with Perseus’ acquisition of TSX-V listed Orca Gold Inc earlier this year.

In addition to the 70% interest in the Block 14 asset, Orca also owned a 31.4% interest in TSX-V-listed Montage which announced completion of a feasibility study at its cornerstone Koné gold project, located in Côte d’Ivoire, in February.

Quartermaine pointed out on Wednesday that the Block 14 asset was fully permitted, including mining lease, royalty agreements and water permits, and that the company had negotiated favourable fiscal terms with the Sudanese government.

Within the next year, Perseus is expected to invest $450-million into Sudan.

“Sudan has been largely overlooked by Western mining companies as a place to invest for many, many years. And I believe that this is changing,” Quartermaine said.

“We strongly believe that the potential rewards far outweigh the risks and Perseus is going to Sudan and is very much willing to go the distance and to be able to achieve those benefits. We believe in terms of risk-averse diversification, this is an outstanding location,” he added.

Perseus on Wednesday also announced record financial results for the full year ended June, driven by a strong operating performance and higher gold prices.

Perseus produced 494 014 oz of gold during the period under review, up from the 328 632 oz produced in the previous corresponding period, and at average gold sales prices reaching $1 683/oz during the period under review, the miner reported a 66% increase in revenue, which reached A$1.12-billion.

Profit after tax for the full year was up 101% on the previous corresponding period, to A$280-million, while operating cash flows were up by 73% to A$523-million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the full year also increased by 86% to A$564.1-mllion.

The financial results included a writedown and impairment expense of A$43.4-million compared with A$6.8-million in the 2021 financial year. An impairment assessment of the Bagoé project gave rise to a write-off of A$33.1-million, while the balance of the writedown and impairment expense related to unsuccessful exploration of near-mine targets at both Sissingué and Edikan.

“Our record financial results for the 2022 financial year reflect our continued strong operating performance at all levels of our business during the period. Our three gold mines are producing at our targeted rate of production with 494 014 oz of gold produced in FY22, and our weighted average all-in site cost of $952/oz is very competitive relative to most of our peers,” said Quartermaine.

“Our financial result has allowed us to include a bonus in our final dividend bringing our full year dividend yield to 1.5% and at the same time, our balance sheet has continued to strengthen. This ensures that going forward, we can continue to return capital to our shareholders and also continue to fund the strong growth that Perseus has enjoyed in recent years.

“We are delivering excellent drill results from our organic growth programmes targeting mineable mineral resources close to our existing operations and the acquisition of Orca Gold earlier this year has provided us with the opportunity to diversify away from West Africa and access the Nubian Shield precinct in North-East Africa that appears to be one of the more well-endowed and under-explored mineral provinces in the world.

“Our collective commitment to our mission of generating material benefits for all of our stakeholders, in fair and equitable proportions, is delivering results and we look forward to continuing this for many years to come,” he added.