Name of the Project
Doropo gold project.

Location
Côte d'Ivoire, between the Comoè National Park and the international border with Burkina Faso.

Project Owner/s
Centamin.

Project Description
Results from the prefeasibility study (PFS) have demonstrated an economically robust project.

The project comprises 1 847 km2 and covers 13 gold deposits – Souwa, Nokpa, Chegue Main, Chegue South, Tchouahinin, Kekeda, Han, Enioda, Hinda, Nare, Kilosegui, Attire and Vako, with total mineral reserves of 40.55-million tonnes grading 1.44 g/t gold. Measured and indicated resources are estimated 51.51-million tonnes grading 1.52 g/t gold and inferred resources at 13.67-million tonnes grading 1.14 g/t gold.

The mine plan proposes the conventional openpit mining of a sequence of shallow pits.

Mineral processing will be undertaken through a 4-million-tonne- to 5.5-million-tonne-a-year semiautogenous grinding mill, ball mill and crusher circuit, and a conventional carbon-in-leach circuit for an average life-of-mine gold recovery of 92%.

The PFS envisages average gold production of 173 000 oz/y over the ten-year life-of-mine with an average of 210 000 oz in the first five years.

Potential Job Creation
None stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $330-million and an internal rate of return of 26%, with a payback of 2.3 years.

Capital Expenditure
$349-million, inclusive of a 10% contingency.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Centamin plans to proceed with a definitive feasibility study (DFS), CEO Martin Horgan has said.

Centamin has identified opportunities to further optimise the project, which will be assessed as part of the DFS, which is scheduled for completion in mid-2024.  A substantial part of the DFS fieldwork has been completed, which derisks the timeline to completion.

Doropo will be supplied with power from the Côte d'Ivoire national grid through the existing Bouna substation, which is about 55 km from the project area.

Centamin has said that the grid power offers a cost and potential carbon saving relative to other options, including self-generation, as the tariff is based on a mix of hydro and thermal generation, with a large portion hydroelectric.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Centamin, tel +44 1534 828700 or email info@centamin.com.