Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector: Exploration & Development
Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector: Exploration & Development 29 September 2015
Alecto Minerals plc ('Alecto' or 'the Company')
Scoping Study Demonstrates Robust Economics for a Joint Venture Heap Leach Project with Desert Gold
Alecto Minerals plc (AIM: ALO), the AIM quoted mineral exploration company, is pleased to announce that further to the co-operation agreement entered into with Desert Gold Ventures Inc. (TSX.V: DAU) ('Desert Gold'), as announced on 9 March 2015, to assess the potential for jointly developing their respective neighbouring gold deposits in Mali (the 'Co-operation Agreement'), the Company and Desert Gold have completed a joint internal scoping study which highlights the robust economics associated with developing a potential 400,000 tonnes per annum ('tpa') low-cost gold heap leach operation combining Alecto's Kossanto East Gold Project and Desert Gold's Farabantourou Gold Project ('Farabantourou') (the 'Scoping Study').
The Scoping Study is based on the known gold deposits on the respective permits, namely Gourbassi East ('GBRE') (JORC) and Gourbassi West ('GBRW') (JORC) within Alecto's Farikounda Gold Permit ('Farikounda') which contains the Kossanto East Gold Project ('Kossanto East') and Barani East (NI 43-101) within Desert Gold's Farabantourou Gold Permit ('Farabantourou'), and demonstrates that significant cost savings can be generated by jointly developing these deposits through heap leaching with a shared mining fleet and mobile crusher with a central gold recovery plant.
Highlights: Low capital and operating costs for scalable near term gold production
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Scoping Study suggests that an annual production rate of approximately 27,000 oz Au would generate approximately US$97.5 million in gross revenue over an estimated life of mine of just over three years
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Estimated low cash costs of approximately US$582 per oz Au over the initial life of mine
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Low total capital expenditure of approximately US$14.3 million with payback anticipated within 12 months of initial production
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Project NPV (10% discount rate) of US$27.4 million with an IRR of 107% at a gold price of US$1,200 per troy ounce
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Potential to extend the life of mine through further exploration of the permits to be funded from project cash flows
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Combined, Farabantourou and Kossanto East have a total estimated resource of over 365,000 oz Au (at a 0.5g/t Au cut-off) - both projects fall within a potential 10km trucking radius from a central location
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This project is subject to the completion of a mining joint venture agreement between the two parties
Alecto's CEO, Mark Jones, commented:
'Through our collaboration with Desert Gold since March, we have been able to demonstrate the potential for the joint development of Farabantourou and Kossanto East in line with our stated strategy of becoming a gold producer in the near to mid-term. We look forward to progressing this exciting opportunity through the creation of a joint venture company that will see the Farikounda and Farabantourou permits combined prior to making a single application for a mining licence across the two permits to the Ministry of Mines in Mali. It is our belief that the combined venture, with its positive economics and clear path to gold production, will not only benefit our own shareholders but will also provide much needed economic growth in Mali where we maintain an excellent relationship with the Ministry of Mines. We look forward to providing further updates regarding our progress in due course.'
Figure 1: Location of the proposed Alecto-Desert Gold mining Joint Venture
Mining and Processing
The Scoping Study, prepared jointly by Alecto and Desert Gold, considered various scenarios involving the development of two heap leach pads with a capacity at each for 200,000 tpa, with one heap located between the two deposits on Kossanto East, servicing GRBE and GRBW, and the other located on Farabantourou and servicing Barani East, with additional resources in proximity to these locations. It is proposed that an owner- operated mining fleet will selectively mine the deposits and deliver ore to the respective heap leach pads. A mobile unit will then move between the two heap leach pads undertaking primary crushing followed by agglomeration, with the ore then stacked using conveyors and a rotary stacker before carbon adsorption,
which will take place adjacent to each heap, followed by desorption, recovery, electro winning, carbon regeneration and gold recovery, which will be completed in a central gold recovery plant.
Figure 2: Simplified process design
The preferred scenario selected on the basis of the Scoping Study involves selectively mining high-grade ore using a fixed cut-off of 1 g/t, to deliver Run of Mine material to each heap leach pad with a head grade of 2.1 g/t. Based on current data, gold recoveries of 80% are anticipated with the mine estimated to produce up to 27,000 oz Au per annum thereby providing for a pre-production capital payback within 12 months and robust cash flows for the two companies. Low grade ore (
As part of the Scoping Study, Wardell Armstrong International ('WAI') was commissioned to complete a high- level study and run pit optimisations based on the existing mineralised ore block models for each of the deposits. The study parameters included only the resource blocks that fell within an open pit with maximum pit depth of 60 metres, representing a small proportion of the known ore bodies. Table 1 shows the parameters used in the pit optimisation runs at each of GRBE and GRBW and Barani East.
Table 1: Pit optimisation design parameters for the respective deposits
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GBRE and GBRW optimisation parameters ($1,200/oz)
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Unit
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Value
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Gold Price
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$/oz
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1,200
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$/g
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38.58
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Selling Cost and Royalty Au
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% of revenue
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6.00
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$/g
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2.31
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Effective Gold Price
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$/oz
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1,128
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$/g
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36.27
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Mining Cost
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$/t
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2.98
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Plant
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$/t
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8.00
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G/A
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$/t
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6.03
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Other
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$/t
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Total Processing Cost
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$/t
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14.03
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Mining Dilution*
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%
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0.0%
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Mining Recovery**
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%
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100.0%
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Ore Mining Rate
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tpa
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200,000
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Au Recovery
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%
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80.0%
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Au Economic Cut-Off Grade
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g/t
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0.48
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Au Fixed Cut-Off Grade
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g/t
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1.00
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Pit Slope Angle
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Degrees
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45.0
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*Mining dilution accounted for by 5m x 2.5m x 5m Selective Mining Unit (SMU) in block model
**Mining recovery accounted for by 5m x 2.5m x 5m SMU in block model
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Barani East optimisation parameters ($1,200/oz)
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Unit
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Value
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Gold Price
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$/oz
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1,200
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$/g
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38.58
|
|
Selling Cost and Royalty Au
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% of revenue
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6.00
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$/g
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2.31
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|
Effective Gold Price
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$/oz
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1,128
|
|
$/g
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36.27
|
|
Mining Cost
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$/t
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2.98
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|
Plant
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$/t
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8.00
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G/A
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$/t
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6.03
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Other
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$/t
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Total Processing Cost
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$/t
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14.03
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Mining Dilution*
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%
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5.0%
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Mining Recovery*
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%
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97.0%
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Ore Mining Rate
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tpa
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200,000
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Au Recovery
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%
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80.0%
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Au Economic Cut-Off Grade
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g/t
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0.5
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Au Fixed Cut-Off Grade
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g/t
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1.00
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Pit Slope Angle
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Degrees
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45.0
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*Taken from the NI 43-101 technical report issued by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd in September 2014
The results from WAI's study of confining the ore bodies as per the above parameters and applying the pit optimisations, which feed into the Scoping Study, demonstrated the potential for an economical mineable resource of 1,205,542 tonnes at a grade of 2.1 g/t with a stripping ratio of 5.8:1.
It should be noted that the Scoping Study is based on low-level technical and economic assessments, and is insufficient to support estimation of Ore Reserves or to provide assurance of an economic development case at this stage, or to provide certainty that the conclusions of the Scoping Study will be realised. Mineral Resources are not reserves until they have demonstrated economic viability based on a feasibility study or pre-feasibility study.
Heap leach is a low cost and simple gold recovery method ideally suited to low-grade ores. Both companies recognise that considerable economies of scale can be achieved by sharing key components in the mining and processing route to maximise equipment efficiencies and reduce substantially the capital expenditure for the project. Accordingly, as a result of these efficiencies, the Scoping Study implies a low cash cost of US$582 per oz Au is achievable for the deposits resulting in the potential to develop a highly profitable venture. Accordingly, the Directors believe that this makes the proposed joint project robust and economically viable during a period of historically depressed gold price.
Next Steps
As a result of the positive economics highlighted in the Scoping Study, Alecto and Desert Gold will now seek to formalise the terms of a mining joint venture company for the joint development of the deposits and proceed, subject to successful completion of negotiations, with an application for a mining licence covering the two permits. A comprehensive programme of work will focus on metallurgical and geotechnical aspects of the deposits, which will allow a detailed feasibility study to be completed in order to bring, subject to, inter alia, financing, the projects into production as soon as possible.
Kossanto East Project
Kossanto East represents approximately one-third of the Kossanto Gold Project but has been the main focus of Alecto's historic exploration activities. During the 2013/14 field season, Alecto increased the JORC code compliant inferred resource estimate at Kossanto East by 131% to 247,000 oz Au at a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t Au (GBRE: 3,080,000 tonnes @ 1.27 g/t for 126,000 oz Au and GBRW: 3,638,000 tonnes @ 1.03 g/t for 121,000 oz Au) since its acquisition in October 2013.
At Kossanto East, Alecto's exploration teams have delineated two further priority target areas through Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drilling. At Berola North 18 metres at a grade of 1.03 g/t was intercepted from surface representing a significant continuous zone of mineralisation that has the potential to be part of a system similar in size to the Gourbassi deposits. Elsewhere, individual RAB intercepts suggest wider spread mineralisation as well as potential extensions to the known deposits.
Further information on Farabantourou
Geologically, Desert Golds' Farabantourou permit straddles the well-known Senegal-Mali-Shear-Zone (SMSZ) along which the Sadiola, Yatella and the Loulo-Gountoko mines are situated. The SMSZ is recognised as the principal geological feature controlling the mineralisation in West Mali.
Exploration at Farabantourou has identified several zones of mineralisation with the focus to date being on the Barani East deposit. Mineralisation at Barani East is hosted in a fault/shear zone, proximal to the SMSZ. While the Barani East deposit is presently estimated over a strike length of 400m, to a depth of 220m, the mineralisation may be open at depth.
As identified in the NI 43-101 technical report issued by Minxcon (Pty) Ltd in September 2014, there is further exploration upside with the Farabantourou permit.
Review of Information
Michael Ware, who is the Company's consultant and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this announcement. Michael Ware has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking and is a qualified person as defined in the AIM Rules.
Michael Ware has reviewed this announcement and consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.alectominerals.com or contact:
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Alecto Minerals plc
Mark Jones
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Tel: +44 (0)20 3137 8862
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Strand Hanson Limited Richard Tulloch Matthew Chandler James Dance
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Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494
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Beaufort Securities Limited
Jon Belliss
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Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 8300
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St Brides Partners Ltd Elisabeth Cowell Felicity Winkles
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Tel: +44 (0)20 7236 1177
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Notes to editors:
Alecto Minerals plc is an African focussed, gold and base metal exploration and development company quoted on AIM with exploration projects in Mali, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.
In Mali, the Kossanto Project has a current independent inferred JORC code compliant resource estimate of 6.72Mt grading at 1.14g/t Au for an aggregate of 247,000 oz Au with a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t Au at Kossanto East. The Kossanto Project is located in the centre of the Kenieba inlier in western Mali. The Kenieba inlier is a block of ancient greenstones and granites hosting many significant gold deposits in Senegal and Mali, making it one of the most important gold regions in Africa.
Alecto also owns the Kerboulé Project, located in the highly prospective Birrimian-age Djibo gold belt in northern Burkina Faso, as well as the wholly owned Wad Amour IOCG Project in Mauritania which is at an exploration stage.