Feasibility study completed on Mali's Kobada Gold Project

A feasibility study was recently completed on the Kobada Gold Project in the West African nation of Mali.

The project is being conducted by Canadian company African Gold Group Inc.

"The company is now armed with a definitive feasibility study that demonstrates the robust nature of the Kobada Gold Project," Declan Franzmann, president and CEO of African Gold Group, said. "The study shows that the oxide orebody at Kobada is simple to mine and simple to process. This means that mining is low cost and can be exploited utilizing equipment readily available in Mali. Equally, the capital requirements for the processing plant are modest with operating costs that are comparable with a heap leach operation, but with faster, more reliable gold recovery. The company is now focused on securing project finance to develop Kobada."

The study revealed 511,000 ounces of gold within two oxide open pits at the site as well as a proved and probable reserve of 12.7 million tons, capacity for gold production exceeding 50,000 ounces each year over an eight-year mine life and average cash costs of $557 per ounce of gold produced.

African Gold Group officials said the development of this project will be funded through internal cash flow of a producing mine. Contract mining is planned and will be done using 40-ton trucks and 70-ton excavators; the project's goal is 1.6 million tons of ore annually for processing.

Gold will be produced as dorè bars that will be shipped to refineries outside Mali.

Company officials expect process plant commissioning to begin in September 2017; plant design and order of longer lead times should begin in July.

Cumulative cash flow for the project has been estimated at $121 million over the mine's eight-year production life.