Name of the Project
Bankan gold project.

Location
Guinea.

Project Owner/s
Gold reserve developer Predictive Discovery Limited (PDI).

Project Description
A prefeasibility study (PFS) has outlined robust production and financial metrics for the project, confirming its status as one of the most exciting development projects worldwide.

The project has a maiden probable ore reserve estimate of 57.7-million tonnes at 1.64 g/t gold for 3.05-million ounces of contained gold across the project’s NEB openpit, NEB underground and BC openpit areas.

An ore reserve case and an extension case have been developed for the project.

Ore Reserve Case
The production target and forecast financial information are based on indicated mineral resources/probable ore reserves.

The ore reserve case proposes a mine life of 11 years, processing 5.5-million tonnes a year of material for average production of 256 000 oz/y of gold. Total gold production is estimated at 2.82-million ounces, from mill feed of 57.7-million tonnes at 1.64 g/t gold containing 3.05-million ounces of gold.

Extension Case
The production target and forecast financial information comprise, on a contained gold basis, 87.2% indicated mineral resources or probable ore reserves and 12.8% inferred mineral resources.

The extension case produces an average of 269 000 oz/y over 12 years for total production of 3.23-million ounces, from mill feed of 61.5-million tonnes at 1.77 g/t gold containing 3.49-million ounces of gold.

Conventional drill, blast, truck and shovel methods will be used for the NEB openpit. The NEB underground orebody will be mined using transverse longhole open stoping with paste fill.

The 5.5-million-tonne-a-year processing plant will use conventional carbon-in-leach technology with upfront gravity recovery.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The ore reserve case delivers a pretax net present value (NPV), at a 5% discount rate, of $848-million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 30.3% at a gold price of $1 800/oz, with a payback of 1.5 years.

The extension case delivers a pretax NPV, at 5% discount rate, of $998-million and an IRR of 31.3% at a conservative $1 800/oz, with a payback of 1.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
Both cases require upfront capital of about $456-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The project has a two-year construction period.

Latest Developments
PDI’s latest drilling results from the Argo area of the project have confirmed the area's potential for further exploration.

On February 24, the company released results from 41 holes covering 6 984 m of resource definition drilling at the Fouwagbe and Sounsoun targets, as well as exploration drilling at Sounsoun.

Drilling in the south-western corridor at Sounsoun yielded results that reinforce its status as a priority area.

At Fouwagbe, the results continue to refine interpretations of mineralised zones. Notable intercepts include 5 m at 15.98 g/t from 55 m, including 1 m at 71.98 g/t from 57 m.

Other significant results include 7.5 m at 2.13 g/t from 102.5 m, 3.5 m at 11.93 g/t from 141 m, and 10 m at 10.85 g/t from 112 m, with 2 m at 7.85 g/t from 145 m and 1.75 m at 13.93 g/t from 230.75 m.

Additional findings include 0.85 m at 31.56 g/t from 14.15 m, 1.85 m at 10.27 g/t from 32.6 m, 12 m at 1.40 g/t from 89 m, and 9 m at 1.44 g/t from 76 m, with 6 m at 1.53 g/t from 29 m.

Drilling at Sounsoun’s underexplored south-western corridor also returned strong intercepts. These include 17 m at 1.76 g/t from 35 m and 23 m at 3.07 g/t from 77 m, both ending in mineralisation.

Other results include 2 m at 15.97 g/t from 164 m, 3 m at 25.01 g/t from 177 m, 6 m at 9.99 g/t from 154 m (including 1 m at 47.08 g/t), and 8 m at 6.15 g/t from 119 m (including 2 m at 18.91 g/t).

Additional intercepts from the well-defined east-west trending shear zone include 4 m at 0.80 g/t from 30 m, 7 m at 0.75 g/t from 60 m, 7 m at 0.94 g/t from 133 m, and 1 m at 4.51 g/t from 99 m.

PDI MD Andrew Pardey says the company is particularly encouraged by strong intercepts from an underexplored part of Sounsoun’s south-western corridor. Among these results is one of the best drill holes recorded in the entire Argo area so far, which ended in mineralisation, highlighting the potential for extensions.

He has said that this further demonstrates the scale of gold mineralisation in the area, reinforcing the company’s belief that systematic exploration across the Bankan permits will continue to unlock significant opportunities.

Meanwhile, earlier-stage regional exploration is ongoing at Argo and the southern part of the Bokoro permit to expand the pipeline of targets moving through the exploration phases.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
PDI, tel +61 8 9216 1020.