Name of the Project
Kiaka gold project.

Location
About 45 km south of West African Resources’ (WAF’s) existing Sanbrado gold mine, in Burkina Faso.

Project Owner/s
Midtier gold producer WAF (90%) and the government of Burkina Faso (10%).

Project Description
A feasibility study update published on July 2, 2024, has confirmed the strong cash flows expected from the project and incorporates improvements of the project’s initial feasibility study, released on August 3, 2022.

Average gold production is estimated at 258 000 oz/y in first five years; and at 234 000 oz/y over the forecasted 20-year mine life.

The 2024 feasibility update incorporates a change from contract mining to an owner mining strategy, enabling WAF to realise greater benefits from the long-life and consistent mining rates of the large-scale Kiaka openpit operations. The investment includes new, larger-sized equipment and robust, fully equipped mine maintenance facilities. Bigger 230 t excavators have been matched to bigger 140 t dump trucks, compared with the 140 t excavators and 95 t trucks used in the 2022 feasibility study, allowing for an increase to the openpit mining rate by 3.3-million tonnes a year.

The 2024 feasibility study update is based on conventional openpit mining methods, with run-of-mine (RoM) ore being directly fed to the crushing circuit. 

Kiaka’s free-milling gold ore will be processed through a conventional single-stage gyratory crushing and semiautogenous ball mill crusher milling circuit followed by carbon-in-leach processing.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an improved after-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $1.18-billion and an internal rate of return of 27%, with a pretax payback of 2.25 years on pre-production development capital.

Capital Expenditure
The feasibility study update estimates preproduction development capital at $447-million, excluding owner mining.

Planned Start/End Date
Kiaka is on schedule for first gold production in the third quarter of 2025.
 
Latest Developments
West African Resources has poured first gold at the project, delivering the milestone ahead of schedule and under budget, as the company progresses toward its ambition of becoming a half-million-ounce-a-year gold producer by 2030.

The maiden pour at Kiaka yielded gold bars weighing 5.7 kg, or 183.3 troy ounces, marking the start of production, just three-and-a-half years after the company acquired the project.

Construction and commissioning activities are substantially complete, with the exception of the high-voltage grid power connection. The processing plant has performed well in early operations, with metallurgical recoveries topping 92% and throughput exceeding expectations.

The ramp-up to nameplate capacity is expected to continue through the third quarter. So far, 140 000 t of ore grading 0.7 g/t gold have been processed.

Openpit mining activities are advancing at Kiaka Main and Kiaka South, with ore stockpiles continuing to build on the RoM pad as mining crews operate double shifts.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
West African Resources, tel +61 8 9481 7344 or email info@westafricanresources.com.