TSX-V-listed African Gold Group has announced positive findings in the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Kobada gold project, in Mali.
The study highlights the viability of a three-million-tonne-a-year operation, producing 1.2-million ounces of gold over a 16-year mine life.
This equates to average yearly gold output of 100 000 oz over the first ten years.
As it stands, the project has a post-tax net present value of $355-million and an internal rate of return of 38%.
The project’s capital cost is estimated at $152-million, with construction envisioned to take 19 months.
The company plans to install a hybrid thermal and solar photovoltaic power plant, with battery energy storage, funded by an independent power producer, from which it will buy power at about $0.20/kWh.
The DFS also shows the possibility of increasing the resource and reserve along strike and depth at the Kobada project.
African Gold CEO Danny Callow says the project is predominantly a free-dig operation, which requires limited blasting, and processing of ore can be done simply through carbon-in-leach methods.
“Kobada is now positioned as a great construction opportunity, in a prolific gold-producing area of West Africa.”