Name of the Project
West Kenya gold project.

Location
Kakamega County, in western Kenya.

Project Owner/s
Shanta Gold.

Project Description
The project comprises the greenfield Isulu and Bushiangala prospects, with combined inferred mineral resources of 2.9-million tonnes grading 12.6 g/t gold, and includes mineral rights that cover 1 161 km2.

A pit optimisation study has suggested the potential of developing an initial openpit at each of the deposits.

Following pit optimisation results, a pit shell has been selected for each deposit. Standard drill, blast, truck and shovel methods will be used for openpit mining.

Underground mining will start after openpit mining, with the proposed mining method for the deposits being longhole open stoping with backfill. The envisaged underground mine will be accessed through two portals, at Isulu and Bushiangala, from which declines will be driven down at each deposit.

The project will include a 480 000 t/y carbon-in-leach processing plant.

Average gold production over the project’s nine-year mine life is estimated at 105 000 oz/y.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $507-million and an internal rate of return of 196%.

Capital Expenditure
The project has an estimated preproduction cost of $161-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Shanta Gold’s last phase of drilling at the West Kenya project has continued to deliver “outstanding” results, ensuring that the project remains the most consistently high-grade drilling programme that the company has ever conducted at any asset in Shanta’s history, CEO Eric Zurrin has reported.

The primary focus during the 2021 drilling campaign was to upgrade the high-grade mineral resource at Isulu and Bushiangala, which the company successfully achieved, converting 348 000 oz, grading 11.7 g/t, to indicated resources earlier this year.

The programme is in its second phase, targeting all the zones to about 550 m below surface and Shanta expects to further increase the indicated resources this year across the West Kenya project, while expanding the total mineral resource size.

Visible gold was identified in three intersections across five holes drilled. Visible gold, including spectacular occurrences, has been identified in 38 intersections across 107 holes drilled to date.

Intersections reported include the fourth set of results received from Phase 2 of the ongoing drilling campaign, which is targeting up to 550 vertical metres below surface.

The company started work on the feasibility study workstream earlier this month.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Bara Consulting (scoping study review and cash-flow modelling); Adiuvare Geology & Engineering (mineral resource estimate); ALS Global and SGS Laboratories (metallurgical testwork); Lycopodium Mineral (process engineering and infrastructure); Rescology (permitting, baseline and environmental studies); Knight Piésold (tailings, waste rock and surface water management); and MineScope Service (scoping study management).

Contact Details for Project Information
Shanta Gold, tel +255 22 2925148 or email mining@shantagold.com.