Name and Location
Yaoure gold project, Côte d’Ivoire.

Client
Amara Mining.

Project Description
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the Yaoure project has demonstrated a compelling gold development project.

The project has an indicated and inferred resource of 6.3-million ounces, with significant upside potential.

The tank-leach process plant, with a capacity of eight-million tonnes a year, has been identified as providing the best return on capital of the options evaluated, although further optimisation studies are expected to provide numerous alternatives to improve this scenario.

Yaoure is planned to be developed and mined as a single openpit operation, comprising the CMA and Yaoure Central deposits. It is designed as a bulk mining operation and is based on an owner-operator scenario using drill-and-blast techniques, with trucks and shovels for loading and haulage. It will have an average primary fleet of four 240 t PC3000s and six 90 t trucks.

The PEA envisages yearly production of 325 000 oz over a 12-year life of mine.

The life-of-mine plan focuses on achieving a consistent rate of feed to the processing plant, while balancing grade consistency with the waste-stripping requirements over the life of the project.

Metallurgical testwork has demonstrated high gold recoveries over 24 hours using cyanide leaching. Whole ore processing through tank leaching, followed by carbon-in-pulp (CIP), was selected as the basis for the PEA, as it is the most cost-effective processing method, with an estimated design recovery rate of 95%, based on the gold recovery achieved in the testwork of 96.2%.

The flowsheet comprises run-of-mine material entering a three-stage crushing circuit followed by ball milling to 106 µm. Gold is then leached through cyanidation in a series of open, mechanically agitated tanks, where oxygen is added to the process.

Leached gold is then recovered using the CIP process followed by a standard elution circuit for gold recovery into doré.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The PEA has confirmed a net present value of $688-million at a $1 250 gold price and 8% discount rate, and an internal rate of return of 32%.

Value
The plant and infrastructure capital cost for the project is $274-million, plus an engineering contingency of $42-million. A further $92-million has been estimated for the mining fleet, which could be deferred through contracting or leasing.

Duration
Production is expected to start in 2017.

Latest Developments
Amara has reported a 63% hike in the indicated mineral resource of the Yaoure project.

The updated National Instrument 43-101-compliant mineral resource estimate is the first step to completing the prefeasibility study (PFS), which is expected to confirm the “compelling economics” outlined in the preliminary economic assessment, by March.

The 2014 drilling campaign, which was undertaken between April and October last year, resulted in 85 574 m being drilled. It showed the proposed mine boasting 6.8-million ounces of mineral resources, with 4.4-million ounces in the indicated category and 2.4-million ounces in the inferred category.

This represents an increase of 485 000 oz in the mineral resource estimate, compared with the estimate released in September 2014, with 65% in the higher confidence indicated category.

A comprehensive metallurgical testwork programme is currently under way, with a focus on confirming recovery rate, reagent consumption and comminution requirements.

The PFS will be based on the results of this mineral resource update and the metallurgical testwork, and will take into account the existing infrastructure at Yaoure, which will have a positive impact on upfront capital costs and operating costs.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Amara Mining, tel +44 20 7398 1420 or fax +44 20 7398 1421.