Removing Sudan from the State sponsors of terror (SST) list will open “exciting opportunities” for investment in the African country, Canadian gold explorer and developer Orca Gold said this week, citing its Block 14 gold project as one of those opportunities.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that the US would remove Sudan from the SST list, once the Sudanese government deposited an agreed amount of $335-million as a pay-out to US terror victims and families.

This move would end more than 25 years of Sudan being isolated from the Western world.

“The removal of this last substantive sanction on Sudan will set the stage for further positive political change and economic recovery. At the same time, this signal to the international investment community will catalyse economic aid and relief efforts for a country and people desperately in need of assistance," Orca CEO and director Richard Clark said on Tuesday.

"We, at Orca, have always seen Sudan as the next major frontier for mineral exploration and mine development in Africa. We look forward to the country being appreciated by the world for its exciting opportunities for investment and growth now that all sanctions are being removed.”

Orca stated that the US government's decision to remove Sudan from the SST list and the economics of Block 14 strongly supported the company's intent to move forward with the development of a $321-million modern gold mine at Block 14.

A recently published feasibility study indicated that Block 14 could produce an average of 167 000 oz/y at an all-in sustaining cost of $751/oz. In the first seven of the 13.6 years, Block 14 would average 228 000 oz/y.

The study calculated an aftertax net present value of $607-million, an internal rate of return of 33.3% and a payback period of 2.9 years.

The Block 14 gold project is located close to Sudan’s border with Egypt, 900 km north of the capital Khartoum. The Block 14 concession covers 2 170 km².