Dec 15 2010
African Aura Mining Inc., the TSX-V (AUR) and AIM (AAAM) listed exploration and development company has announced the completion of the preliminary economic assessment study with respect to the Company's 100% owned New Liberty Gold Project located in western Liberia.
- Study highlights potential for robust open pit gold mine with strong economics
- First five year's production with minimum 100,000oz pa in initial 8.5 year mine life
- Pre-tax NPV of $234m (£148m) based on $1,100/oz Au and 10% discount rate
- Initial capex of $92m, average cash cost of $484/oz and head grade of 3.6 g/t Au
- IRR of 73% and capital payback in under two years
- Definitive Feasibility Study underway and on track for 4Q 2011 completion
Luis da Silva, Chief Executive of African Aura, commented:
"These very positive results demonstrate the robust nature of the New Liberty Gold Project and confirm our long held belief on the excellent grade potential of the ore zone for the open pit mine. It is worth highlighting that the pre-tax NPV of the project calculated using a gold price of $1,100/oz and 10% discount of $234m / £148m equates to approximately £1.62 / $2.56 per African Aura common share on a fully diluted basis. New Liberty will be an excellent flagship gold asset for Aureus Mining Inc which, subject to the necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals, is anticipated to be created by March 2011 by way of the corporate restructuring as detailed in the Company's news release of 8th November 2010.
In the meantime we shall complete further infill and exploration drilling in the process of finalising the definitive feasibility study. New Liberty is on the cusp of becoming a very significant gold operation in West Africa and we will update shareholders in due course. Over the last five years, the current administration under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has brought about a monumental change in investor sentiment culminating in stated foreign direct investment of approximately $16 billion, mainly in mining, oil and agriculture. Indeed, New Liberty will be the first operating gold mine in Liberia and I would like to acknowledge the cooperation and support of the Government of Liberia."
The study supports an open pit and gold processing plant with an average annual production rate of 850,000 tonnes of ore over an 8.5 year production life. In the first 5 years of the project, forecast gold production will average 100,000 ounces per year with total gold production for the project expected to be some 786,700 ounces. Metallurgical testwork has confirmed the ore is non-refractory and a recovery of 93% is achievable through a combined gravity and carbon in leach process.
The average life of mine cash cost per ounce is estimated at $484 with an expected pre-tax net present value ('NPV') of $234 million at a gold price of $1,100/oz using a 10% discount rate and a pre-tax internal rate of return ('IRR') of 73%. The expected payback period is less than 2 years. For all estimates 4Q 2010 market prices for capital and operating costs were applied. All dollar amounts presented in this news release are expressed in US dollars. Based on the results of the study, the New Liberty deposit contains 7.3 million tonnes of mineable gold ore in the Indicated and Inferred category at a diluted head grade of 3.6 g/t. The majority of the mineable resource is in the Indicated category.
The Study was compiled by AMC Consultants (UK) Limited ('AMC') in collaboration with MDM Engineering Ltd, Golder Associates Africa Ltd and the African Aura Project Development team. The study is based on the Indicated and Inferred resources as stated in the National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI-43-101") compliant technical report dated November 2010 and entitled 'New Liberty Gold Project, Liberia, West Africa, Technical Report on Additional Drilling and Estimated Resources for African Aura Mining Incorporated' prepared by Mr C G Arnold of AMC Consultants (UK) Limited (the 'November 2010 Technical Report').
Economic Highlights
The total capital cost of $98m for the project includes processing plant, power supply, other mine infrastructure, tailings dam construction, creek diversion, sustaining capital and mine closure. The pit optimization work assumes that the mining operation will be outsourced to a suitable mining contractor. An analysis of project sensitivities highlights that the operation is least sensitive to capital cost increases. The company considers the project to be robust as the breakeven gold price is approximately $640 per ounce, inclusive of capital cost repayments and depreciation.
Based on the positive results of the Study, the Company plans to advance the New Liberty Project through to the definitive feasibility study stage by the end of 2011. In that regard, a project environmental and social impact assessment scoping study was started by Golders Associates Africa Ltd in August 2010 and the final study is due within the DFS period in 2011. The Company is planning a resource infill drilling programme to convert indicated resources to the measured category and inferred resources to the indicated category during the first 6 months of 2011. Inter alia, further metallurgical samples will be obtained for testing to update the mill comminution and recovery test work previously completed by SGS Lakefield of Canada, and Mintek of South Africa. The work will be aimed at providing final design parameters for the grinding circuit together with investigations to improve recovery performance and optimise reagent additions.
The New Liberty project is a greenfield development with the advantage of having excellent access from the capital and main port of Liberia, Monrovia. From the capital there is predominantly paved road covering the 85 kilometres to the project site, providing all year round access.
Updated Resource
The resource estimate was undertaken by AMC Consultants (UK) Limited ('AMC') in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Project", of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI-43-101"). It incorporates all the results from drilling as at 14 September 2010, being 175 holes for 27,736 meters and was calculated on the basis of a 1.0 g/t cut-off grade.
Resource categories
The total resource estimate of 1.51 million ounces of gold grading 3.78 g/t is comprised of 5,599,000 tonnes grading 4.17 g/t (for 751,000 ounces) in the indicated category and 7,040,000 tonnes grading 3.40 g/t (for 762,000 ounces) in the inferred category. The indicated resource has been projected to an approximate depth of 200 metres below surface. The inferred resource remains open down dip and open along strike.
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- The New Liberty gold deposit is a classic Archaean shear zone hosted greenstone gold deposit with a strike length of 1.75km, located in western Liberia. The project is open ended on strike and exploration work is being targeted to extend the near surface resources.
New Liberty is one of a series of gold deposits, including the Ndablama and Weaju prospects, located within the Company's 457km2 'Class A' 25 year renewable Mining Licence. Geologically, Archaean greenstone belts are known to host major gold mines in Canada, Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. The Company considers that the Archaean geology of the Man Craton of west Africa is one of very few provinces globally that is highly prospective, but has yet to be systematically explored.
Qualified Person
The Study was prepared by Mr M Staples of AMC Mining Consultants (UK) Ltd, a Qualified Person, for the purposes of the study, under the standards set forth by NI 43-101, and he has also reviewed and approved the contents of this news release, as applicable.
Source: African Aura Mining Inc.