Name of the Project
Koné gold project.

Location
About 350 km north-west of Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire.

Project Owner/s
Canada-based mineral resources company Montage Gold.
 
Project Description
The project is based on three openpit gold deposits feeding a central gold-processing facility. The project has an average yearly mining rate of 42.4-million tonnes and will produce an average of 223 000 oz/y of gold over the 16-year life-of-mine for total gold production of 3.57-million ounces.

There is upside potential through regional exploration and identification of satellite pits similar to Koné’s Gbongogo Main deposit that could be mined and trucked to a central processing facility. The process plant will have a nominal throughput of 11-million tonnes a year with a grind size of 80% passing (P80) 75 µm.

The treatment plant design incorporates crushing, screening, high-pressure grinding rolls, grinding and classification, preleach and tailings thickening, a carbon-in-leach circuit, carbon recovery and acid wash, carbon elution, electrowinning trains and smelting.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $1.44-billion and an internal rate of return of 34.6% with a payback of 2.6 years.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $835-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The project started construction in December 2024. First gold production is scheduled for the second quarter of 2027.

Latest Developments
Montage has committed to a significant number of long-lead item orders, securing pricing for equipment and services on initial capital of more than $150-million, with key orders placed including: ball mill, HPGR and crushers (primary and secondary); thickeners and carbon-in-leach tanks; key earthworks mobile equipment leases; early camp facilities are complete while construction of the permanent camp is under way, which will also accommodate construction personnel.

Montage continues to engineer the potential addition of an oxide circuit comprising a sizer and conveyor to directly feed the mill with oxide and transitional material, bypassing the hard rock comminution and HPGR. The current design limits oxide
material to 10% of total feed, and requires 18.8-million tonnes of prestripping, stockpiling, and gradual reintroduction of oxide material into the feed over the first eight years of production. 

An oxide circuit would enable an earlier first gold pour while the hard rock comminution is being commissioned, reduce rehandling costs for oxide ore mined in preproduction, provide significant operational flexibility to continue production during maintenance of the crushing circuit and would improve blending optionality. 

While oxide feed is limited within the Koné deposit, Montage’s ability to discover more oxide material across new and existing targets will be a determining factor in forming an investment decision for the oxide circuit.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Lycopodium Minerals (engineering, procurement and construction management).

Contact Details for Project Information
Montage Gold, tel +1 416 963 5777.