Perseus Mining takes Final Investment Decision on Yaoure CMA Underground Project

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Perseus Mining Limited
Perseus Mining Limited

Perth, Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- perseus mining takes final investment decision on CMA UNDERGROUND PROJECT at yaouré

Perth, Western Australia/January 28, 2025/Perseus Mining Limited (ASX/TSX:PRU) is pleased to advise that a Final Investment Decision (FID) has been taken, to develop the CMA underground project at the Yaouré Gold Mine in Côte d’Ivoire.

The FID took into consideration the Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy’s in-principle approval for the project, as announced by Minister Sangafowa Coulibaly on 28 November 2024. This approval marks a critical step towards the start of the CMA underground project which is due to begin in mid-2025 with the development of the first portal. The commencement of this work remains contingent on the approval of the project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) by the Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition, which is currently underway, and the formal granting of a Ministerial Decree, foreshadowed in Minister Coulibaly’s announcement.

Following its FID, Perseus has appointed the Australian specialist underground mining contractor, Byrnecut, as the primary mining contractor for the project. Given that the CMA underground project will become Côte d’Ivoire’s first mechanised underground mine, an important element of Byrnecut’s role will be the training of Ivorian miners in the skills and disciplines of underground mining, particularly safe working practices. Byrnecut who has significant international experience, particularly in West Africa with experience operating in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali, is expected to mobilise on site at Yaouré by April 2025.

The combined Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource (per Perseus’s August 2024 ASX Release) for Yaouré is currently estimated at 55.6 Mt grading 1.52 g/t Au, containing 2.7 Moz of gold including 7.4 Mt grading 4.16 g/t Au, containing 0.966 Moz of gold associated with the CMA underground project. A further 17.4 Mt of material grading 1.7 g/t gold, containing 0.926 Moz of gold, including 4.5 Mt grading 3.5 g/t containing 0.51 Moz of gold associated with the CMA Underground Project, are classified as Inferred Mineral Resources (Tables 1 & 2).

Total Ore Reserves for Yaouré are estimated at 35.2 Mt grading 1.53 g/t Au, containing 1.73 Moz of gold including 4.9 Mt at 3.51 g/t for 0.56 Moz associated with the CMA underground project (Table 3).

The CMA underground project, when combined with the open pit ore sources, based on the current estimate of Ore Reserves, will extend the Yaouré Gold Mine’s operational life until at least 2035. There is potential for further life extensions through additional discoveries of mineralisation down dip from the currently delineated mineralisation.