- Perseus Mining (PRU) releases its maiden ore reserve for the initial stages of underground mining at the CMA orebody within its Yaouré gold mine in the Ivory Coast
- The new ore reserve sits at 2.2 million tonnes at 3.58 grams of gold per tonne (g/t gold) for 259,000 ounces of gold
- The company says the addition of the CMA underground to the Yaouré mine has the potential to extend the life of the mine and increase its annual ounce production
- Currently, Perseus is undertaking both resource definition and down-dip exploration drilling the CMA underground to convert inferred resources to the indicated category
- Shares in Perseus Mining were up 1.3 per cent to $1.56 at 10:52 am AEST
Perseus Mining (PRU) has released its maiden ore reserve for the initial stages of underground mining at the CMA orebody within its Yaouré gold mine in the Ivory Coast
The indicated mineral resources at CMA underground amount to 3.7 million tonnes at 4.48 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 537,000 ounces of contained gold, and inferred mineral resources are estimated at 37 million tonnes at 4.1 g/t gold for 488,000 ounces of gold.
Further, the maiden underground probable ore reserves estimated to date total 2.2 million tonnes of ore grading 3.58 g/t gold and containing 259,000 ounces of gold.
All estimates have been updated to include all recent CMA resource drilling, according to Perseus.
This includes roughly 135,000 metres of reverse circulation and diamond drilling primarily targeting the CMA lode.
Perseus said the addition of the CMA underground to the Yaouré mine had the potential to extend the life of the mine and increase its annual ounce production.
Meanwhile, the company has completed a pre-feasibility study (PFS) on the drilled-out portion of the CMA deposit at Yaouré, which it said had proven the economic and technical viability of underground mining immediately beneath the existing open pit.
Additionally, the company made its first hole in a deep drilling exploration program to explore the potential for mineralisation well below previously drilled holes.
Managing Director and CEO Jeff Quartermaine said the company was working to maintain and exceed the level of production at the project over the next decade and beyond.
“These latest drill results from Yaouré give us further confidence in the high-grade gold contained beneath the CMA open pit, and the results of a PFS and maiden ore reserve for the first portion of CMA Underground project are encouraging,” Mr Quartermaine said.
“This initial stage of the development will carry the bulk of the development costs of the underground operation, and as further resources and reserves are delineated by the drilling programs currently underway on the site, the average all-in sustaining cost (AISC) should be reduced, turning the CMA underground into a very profitable extension of the already profitable open pit operation.”
Currently, Perseus is undertaking both resource definition drilling and down-dip exploration drilling for the CMA underground project.
The drilling program is underway on the CMA north-west orebody and an infill programme to convert the inferred resource to indicated is planned later in the year, stepping out the reserve up to 200 metres further down dip.
Shares in Perseus Mining were up 1.3 per cent to $1.56 at 10:52 am AEST.