Name and Location
Sukari gold mine Stage 4 expansion, Egypt.

Client
Centamin Egypt.

Project Description
The Sukari gold mine is the first modern gold mine operation in Egypt.

As of July 2013, the mine has measured and indicated resources of 13.4-million ounces, and inferred resources of 1.9-million ounces; as of September 2013, it had reserves of 8.2-million ounces.

The mine consists of a 2.5-km-long porphyry granite hill, situated about 700 km south of Cairo and 25 km west of Marsa Alam, on the Red Sea. It includes a large-scale openpit mine and an underground mine that both produce high-grade ore.

The ore is processed on site at the processing plant, which has a current capacity of five-million tons a year, which will be expanded to ten-million tons a year by 2016 in the Stage 4 expansion.

The aim is to ramp up production at Sukari to between 450 000 oz/y and 500 000 oz/y of gold from 2015 onwards, at which level current reserves would support a mine life of more than 20 years.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not available.

Value
Expenditure to date is $274.4 million of the total unchanged forecast of $325 million, including contingency, with the remaining balance continuing to be funded from cost recoveries.

Duration
The project began commissioning at the end of 2013.

Latest Developments
Centamin lifted gold production from its Sukari mine to a record 128 115 oz for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 – a 40% increase on the corresponding quarter in 2013 and 37% higher than that produced in the third quarter of 2014.

This brought full-year production to 377 261 oz, a 6% increase on 2013 and within the company’s revised guidance of between 370 000 oz and 380 000 oz.

Record quarterly throughput at the process plant was 2.59-million tons, a 9% increase on the third quarter of the year and above nameplate capacity of ten-million tons a year.

Openpit total material movement increased 21% on the previous quarter to 13.8-million tons following government’s approval during the quarter for the required increase in ammonium nitrate (AN) use.

Openpit ore production rose by 53% on the third quarter to 4.12-million tons and average grades mined increased over the third quarter.

The run-of-mine ore stockpile balance increased by 1.02-million tons to 2.17-million tons at the end of the period, while the underground operation delivered a record 284 000 t of ore – up 15% on the third quarter of the year.

Forecast production from the Sukari mine for 2015 is 420 000 oz at a cash operating cost of $700/oz, representing an 11% increase on 2014 production.

If achieved, this will become the sixth successive year of output growth at Sukari.

Openpit production for 2015 will be focused on stripping the northern and eastern walls of the pit, with higher grades scheduled to be mined in the second half of the year.

Centamin chairperson Josef El-Raghy notes that there is scope for further increases in plant throughput during the coming quarters as the plant is fully optimised and openpit mining rates increase with the additional AN.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Centamin Egypt, tel +618 9316 2640, fax +618 9316 2650 or email centamin@centamin.com.au.