African Gold Group, Inc. (TSX-V: AGG, OTCQX: AGGFF, FRA: 3A61)
(“
AGG” or the “
Company”) is
pleased to announce an updated Mineral Reserve Estimate for its
Kobada Gold Project (the “
Project” or
“
Kobada”). The reserve estimate is an update to
the reserve disclosed in the National Instrument 43-101 Standards
of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“
NI 43-101”)
report titled “NI 43-101 Technical Report on Kobada Gold Project in
Mali” with an effective date of June 17, 2020 (the “
2020
DFS”), and will be the basis for the updated feasibility
study (expected to be delivered before mid-October 2021) (the
“
2021 DFS”).
Highlights from the reserve update
include:
- Proven and Probable Mineral
Reserves increased by 66% for a total of 1,252,522 ounces of
gold; an increase of 497,772 ounces from the previous
reserve estimate in the 2020 DFS.
- Growth highlights
significant upside potential at Kobada, with the updated
mineral reserve estimates expected to increase already attractive
economics.
- Life of mine (“LOM”) has
increased to 16 years, with the potential to deliver
average production of 100,000 ounces of gold per annum for the
first 10 years.
- Inclusion of sulphides
within new pit shells, opens the potential for a
substantial sulphide resource below the oxides.
- Optimised pit shell and
mine plan to deliver optimal free cash flow.
Danny Callow, CEO of African Gold Group,
commented: “We are delighted to announce these results
from our upcoming 2021 DFS at the Kobada Gold Project in Mali. With
the inclusion of significant exploration drilling within our oxides
and fresh rock, we have achieved a massive 66% increase in
delivered gold ounces and now have an asset that can deliver an
average of 100,000 ounces of gold per annum for the first 10 years,
with a mine life of 16 years. Furthermore, the introduction of
sulphides into the mine plan opens the possibility for a
substantial sulphide resource below the oxides as the Project
develops.
As well as the material increase in reserve,
these results have demonstrated that there is clearly significant
upside potential at Kobada in the short-term. With more than 50 km
of shear zones yet to explore, as well as an additional estimate of
more than 280,000 inferred ounces within the new pit shell that
requires minimal drilling to convert into measured and indicated
resource.
We have spoken at length about the upside
potential of the Kobada asset, and the delivery of 1.25 million
ounces of reserves from 3.1 million ounces of measured, indicated
and inferred resources is a validation of the quality of the Kobada
Gold Project. Based upon just these near-term convertible ounces,
there remains the potential to further increase the measured and
indicated resources and thereby increase shareholder value.”
Pit Optimisation Parameters
Open-pit optimisation was conducted on the
deposit to determine the economic limits of the pit. The
optimisation was conducted during the initial stage of the Project
using initial cost, the gold sale prices, and pit and plant
operating parameters.
The pit optimisation was conducted using GEOVIA
Whittle™ software to provide guidance as to the economic pit limit
of the Kobada deposit. The optimiser operates on a net present
value (“NPV”) calculation for all the blocks in
the model, which is the revenue from the sales of products less the
operating cost. The principal aspects to consider for a NPV
estimation are as follows:
- Product Tonnage = Mineralised
Tonnage × Recovery × Grade of Feed/Gold Grade
- Revenue =
Product Tonnage × Sales Price
- Net Value =
Revenue – (Mining Cost + Processing Cost + Transportation Cost +
General and Administration (“G&A”) Cost)
The optimiser software establishes the pit
limits where the revenue from the ore and the waste stripping
costs, balance each other. The result is that the sum of all the
blocks contained within this optimal pit shell will report the
optimal economic value, if the pit is smaller, some value is left
in the ground, and if the pit is bigger, some value is “destroyed”
due to the additional stripping.
Once this pit shell is generated, it is used as
a guide to design the engineered pit incorporating berms, benches,
and haulages roads. This engineered pit is used for the development
of the Mine Schedule, to determine the ore quantity and grades
mined for each period of the LOM.
Table 1 highlights the pit optimisation
parameters used in the 2021 DFS of the Kobada Project.
Description |
Unit |
Value |
Mining Cost (Laterite and Saprolite) |
US$/t |
2.50 |
Mining Cost (Transition and Sulphide) |
US$/t |
3.00 |
Processing Cost (Laterite and Saprolite)* |
US$/t |
9.41 |
Processing Cost (Transition)* |
US$/t |
12.64 |
Processing Cost (Sulphide)* |
US$/t |
15.08 |
Mining Recovery |
% |
95.0 |
Mining Dilution |
% |
5.0 |
Process Recovery (Laterite and Saprolite) |
% |
96.5 |
Process Recovery (Transition) |
% |
90.5 |
Process Recovery (Sulphide) |
% |
95.4 |
Gold Price |
US$/oz |
1 610 |
Refining Cost |
US$/oz |
7.59 |
Royalties |
% |
3.0 |
Overall Pit Slope |
Degrees |
40 |
* This cost includes the G&A and tailings
costs. |
Table 1: Pit Optimisation Parameters
Mining Dilution and
Recovery
Within all mining operations it is not possible
to accurately separate the mineralised and waste material from one
another due to the scale and the use of the drilling and blasting
equipment.
Therefore, to account for this, a mining
recovery of 95% and a mining dilution of 5% is applied.
The original sub-blocked model has been
re-blocked to 5.0 m × 5.0 m × 5.0 m block with sub-block of
5.0 m x 5.0 m x 2.5 m in the X, Y and Z directions, respectively to
enable the use of HxGN MinePlan™ 3D software.
This regularisation process induced an external
dilution because a portion of each regularised block contained some
waste material on the edge of the mineralised zones. As highlighted
in Table 2 the total dilution induced by the regularisation process
has been estimated at 2.3% for ore. An additional 3% dilution
factor has been applied to the reserves to achieve the 5% dilution
target.
Block Model |
Total Ore |
Gold |
Tonnes |
Grade |
Oz |
Original Sub-Blocked |
67.46 |
0.86 |
1 875 779 |
Regularised (5 m x 5 m x 5 m) with sub-block (5m x 5m x 2.5m) |
69.01 |
0.84 |
1 857 077 |
Difference |
+2.3 % |
−2.3 % |
−1.0 % |
Table 2: Dilution Induced by Regularisation
Final Pit Results
The optimal open-pit mining limits were
established using GEOVIA Whittle™, which uses the Lerchs-Grossmann
algorithm for pit optimisation. The results of the pit optimisation
evaluation conducted on the deposit for varying revenue factors are
summarised in Table 3 and Figure 1.
Mining optimisation was conducted over the
geological model produced by Minxcon geologists. The NPV
sensitivity analysis was used as the main criterion to select the
optimal pit in the optimisation software, together with a range of
nested pit shells generated, so that the most economically viable
pit is selected.
Notably the NPV in this optimisation summary
does not consider the capital costs and is used only as a guide for
shell selection and the determination of the mining shapes.
As part of the optimisation process, a
stockpiling strategy has been defined to feed the process plant
with the higher-grade material at the start of the operation and
stockpile the lower-grade material to be processed in the later
years. The goal, therefore, was to optimise the pit for the
high-grade ore and process the low-grade ore contained inside the
pit at the end of the LOM.
The results are highlighted in Table 3 and
Figure 1.
Table 3: Pit Optimisation Evaluation is
available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2c73a295-2473-4e4b-897b-2db8b304ad17
Figure 1: Project Evaluator Optimisation Results
is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/392e4676-2c3c-4bec-a5c6-ed3844d6de1b
Sensitivities
During the optimisation process, additional
sensitivity runs were examined to determine the sensitivity of the
resource to certain parameters. The following main parameters were
changed as part of the sensitivity runs:
- Gold price
ranges: from US$1,450/oz to US$1,750/oz
Table 4 shows the results of the sensitivity
runs.
Description |
NPV(%) |
Tonnes of Ore(%) |
Grade(%) |
Contained Gold(%) |
Selling Price |
US$1,450/oz |
83 |
96 |
103 |
100 |
US$1,500/oz |
91 |
98 |
101 |
100 |
US$1,550/oz |
94 |
99 |
101 |
100 |
US$1,610/oz (base case) |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
US$1,650/oz |
104 |
101 |
99 |
100 |
US$1,700/oz |
110 |
102 |
99 |
100 |
US$1,750/oz |
115 |
102 |
98 |
100 |
Mine OPEX |
Mine OPEX −10 % |
103 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Mine OPEX (base case) |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Mine OPEX +10 % |
97 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Process OPEX |
Process OPEX −10 % |
104 |
103 |
98 |
101 |
Process OPEX (base case) |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Process OPEX +10 % |
96 |
97 |
102 |
99 |
Table 4: Results from Sensitivity Runs
This result shows that the Kobada resources are
relatively robust to withstand changes in the optimisation
parameters; therefore, even if the commodity price fluctuates or if
the physical or cost parameters change, the defined engineered pit
will not vary drastically.
Cut-off Grade (“COG”)
The COG is used to determine whether the
material being mined will generate a profit after the mining,
processing, and administrative costs have been paid. Material that
is mined below the COG is sent to the waste dump. The COG has been
calculated using the following formula:
COG = Gold grade × |
Mining cost + Process cost + G&A |
|
Sales price × Mill recovery |
|
The marginal COG has been defined as the total
ore cost excluding mining costs, but including a rehandling cost
divided by the net recovered gold price.
The total marginal ore, as defined above (with a
grade higher than the marginal COG), approximates to 19.8 Mt at an
average grade of 0.46 g/t. This material will be stored in a
designated area (low-grade stockpiles), lifted, and processed at
the end of the LOM.
Material |
COG (g/t of Au) |
Direct Feed to Mill |
Marginal COG |
Laterite |
0.6 |
0.35 |
Saprolite |
0.6 |
0.35 |
Transition |
0.6 |
0.35 |
Sulphide |
0.6 |
0.35 |
Table 5: Cut-Off Grade
The COG used to determine if the material will
be fed directly to the mill has been calculated to maximise the
gold production for the first five years of the LOM and reach an
average of 100 koz/a of gold production, given the mill throughput
constraint of 3 Mt/a of material.
Figure 2 shows a grade tonnage curve of the
in-pit material prior to applying any dilution and mining recovery
parameters. When using a 0.6 g/t COG and a throughput of 3 Mt/a of
mill feed material, a target of 100 koz/a of gold production can be
reached.
Figure 2: Grade Tonnage Curve is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/140e8771-679f-4056-afc0-781657f1afe7
Mineral Reserve Estimate
The Mineral Reserves for the Project are
estimated at 45.0 Mt of Proved and Probable Mineral Reserves at a
grade of 0.87 g/t Au based on the marginal cut-off grades of 0.35
g/t. To access these reserves, 157.9 Mt of waste rock will need to
be removed. This results in a stripping ratio of 3.5 to 1
(waste/ore).
Table 6 highlights the open pit Mineral Reserves
for the Project.
Category |
Material |
Ore (kt) |
Grade (g/t) |
In Situ Ounces (koz) |
Recovered Ounces (koz) |
Proven |
Laterite |
336 |
0.87 |
8.3 |
8.0 |
Saprolite |
12,276 |
0.90 |
331.8 |
320.1 |
Transition |
1,776 |
0.90 |
47.4 |
42.9 |
Sulphide |
5,870 |
0.94 |
140.4 |
133.9 |
Subtotal |
20,259 |
0.91 |
527.8 |
504.9 |
Probable |
Laterite |
1,288 |
0.85 |
36.1 |
34.8 |
Saprolite |
16,015 |
0. 88 |
465.6 |
449.3 |
Transition |
1,975 |
0.87 |
57.2 |
51.8 |
Sulphide |
5,492 |
0.84 |
165.9 |
158.2 |
Subtotal |
24,770 |
0.87 |
724.7 |
694.1 |
Total Proven and Probable |
Laterite |
1,624 |
0.85 |
44.4 |
42.8 |
Saprolite |
28,291 |
0.88 |
797.3 |
769.4 |
Transition |
3,752 |
0.87 |
104.6 |
94.6 |
Sulphide |
11,362 |
0.84 |
306.3 |
292.2 |
Total |
45,029 |
0.87 |
1,252.5 |
1,199.0 |
Notes:1. The effective date of the Mineral Reserve Estimate is 24
September 2021.2. Mineral Reserves are reported in accordance with
the CIM guidelines.3. A marginal COG of 0.35 g/t Au for all
material is applied.4. Mineral Reserves were estimated at a gold
price of US$1,610/oz and include modifying factors related to
miningcosts, dilution and recovery, process recoveries and costs,
G&A costs, and royalties.5. Figures have been rounded to an
appropriate level of precision for the reporting of Mineral
Reserves.6. Due to rounding, some columns or rows might not add up
exactly as shown.7. The Mineral Reserves are stated as dry tonnes
processed at the crusher. All figures are in metric tonnes.8. The
in situ and recovered ounces are in troy ounces. |
Table 6: Kobada Mineral Reserve Estimate
Inferred resources have been excluded from the
mineral reserve estimate. Table 7 shows the total amount of
inferred resources included inside the ultimate pit limit.
Category |
Material |
Ore (kt) |
Grade (g/t) |
In Situ Ounces (koz) |
Inferred |
Laterite |
1,109 |
0.97 |
34.6 |
Saprolite |
5,914 |
0.97 |
184.9 |
Transition |
544 |
0.93 |
16.3 |
Sulphide |
1,492 |
0.94 |
45.0 |
Total |
9,059 |
0.96 |
280.9 |
Notes:1. Inferred Resources are excluded from the Mineral Reserves
estimate.2. A marginal COG of 0.35 g/t Au for all material is
applied.3. Figures have been rounded to an appropriate level of
precision.4. Due to rounding, some columns or rows might not add up
exactly as shown.5. Inferred resources within the ultimate pit
limit shown above are in-situ tonnes with no mining recovery and
dilution applied.8. In situ ounces are in troy ounces. |
Table 7: Kobada Inferred Resources Inside the
Ultimate Pit Plan
These resources can be drilled by an in-fill
drilling program, similar to the Phase 4 drill program completed in
January 2021. It is highly probable that this will increase the
size of the measured and indicated resource, and therefore
conversion to reserves within the optimized pit shell. It is
recommended that this drilling is prioritized prior to the start of
production to increase the ounces available for processing.
Optimised Mine Plan
The mine plan has been optimised for targeted
mining tonnes of 20 million tonnes per annum ore and waste, with a
flow through of 3 million tonnes of feed to the mill, generating
100,000 ounces of finished gold. There is further opportunity for
additional optimisation, especially following further drilling of
inferred ounces within the ultimate pit shell, which could add
additional gold ounces without increasing the amount of waste
material.
The optimised mine plan is presented in Table 8,
with the mill delivered tonnes shown in Figure 3 and total material
movement shown in Figure 4.
TOTAL |
Year |
t |
g/t |
Oz |
Rec Oz |
Pre-Prod |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
1,377,348 |
1.18 |
52,122 |
50,298 |
2 |
2,996,931 |
1.10 |
106,157 |
102,441 |
3 |
3,006,964 |
1.09 |
105,819 |
102,083 |
4 |
2,906,190 |
1.10 |
102,603 |
98,789 |
5 |
2,929,603 |
1.09 |
102,769 |
98,698 |
6 |
2,963,738 |
1.12 |
106,688 |
102,519 |
7 |
2,960,975 |
1.12 |
106,988 |
101,801 |
8 |
3,029,853 |
0.92 |
89,575 |
84,434 |
9 |
2,995,620 |
1.16 |
111,326 |
106,239 |
10 |
3,058,838 |
1.05 |
103,015 |
98,099 |
11 |
2,957,078 |
0.66 |
62,289 |
59,701 |
12 |
2,997,514 |
0.46 |
44,707 |
43,139 |
13 |
2,918,084 |
0.45 |
42,452 |
40,967 |
14 |
3,030,887 |
0.45 |
44,451 |
41,963 |
15 |
3,040,896 |
0.46 |
45,082 |
42,660 |
16 |
1,858,313 |
0.44 |
26,471 |
25,210 |
Total |
45,028,831 |
0.87 |
1,252,522 |
1,199,041 |
Table 8: Optimised Mining Schedule
__________________1 Pre-production and Year 1
each consist of a 6 month period.
Figure 3: Mill Schedule and Delivered Ounces is
available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/88ca784a-6adb-45e5-b688-f9082941ec05
Figure 4: Total Material Movement Life of Mine
is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/af5fecb2-b76c-4f93-956f-30326f56f3bc
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information
contained in this press release has been reviewed, prepared and
approved by Dr. Andreas Rompel, PhD, Pr. Sci. Nat. (400274/04),
FSAIMM, Vice President Exploration of AGG, who is a "Qualified
Person" as defined by NI 43-101 and by Mr. Uwe Engelmann (BSc (Zoo.
& Bot.), BSc Hons (Geol.), Pr.Sci.Nat. No. 400058/08, MGSSA), a
director of Minxcon (Pty) Ltd and a member of the South African
Council for Natural Scientific Professions.
Mr. Ghislain Prévost, M.Sc.A in Mining
Engineering, OIQ membership No. 119054, a Principal Mining Engineer
with DRA Americas Inc, is the qualified person for the mineral
reserve and mining methods sections. Mr. Prevost is an independent
Qualified Person as defined by the NI 43-101 guidelines.
About African Gold Group
African Gold Group is a TSX Venture Exchange
(TSX-V: AGG) listed exploration and development company with a
focus on building Africa’s next mid-tier gold producer. The Company
has a highly experienced board and management team with a proven
track record in the African mining sector operating mines from
development through to production. AGG’s principal asset is the
Kobada Gold Project in southern Mali, which is in an advanced stage
of development having completed the 2020 DFS and is targeting gold
production of 100,000 oz per annum. As well as the initial Kobada
Gold Project, other exploration locations have been identified on
the Kobada, Farada and Kobada Est concessions, offering potential
for an increase in resource. For more information regarding African
Gold Group visit our website at www.africangoldgroup.com.
For more information:
Danny CallowPresident and Chief Executive Officer+
(27) 76 411 3803Danny.Callow@africangoldgroup.com |
Daniyal BaizakVice President, Corporate
Development +1 (647) 835
9617Daniyal.Baizak@africangoldgroup.com |
|
|
Scott EldridgeNon-Executive Chairman of the
Board+1 (604) 722 5381Scott.Eldridge@africangoldgroup.com |
Camarco (Financial PR)Gordon Poole / Nick Hennis
+44 (0) 20 3757 4997AfricanGoldGroup@camarco.co.uk |
Cautionary statements
This press release contains “forward-looking
information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities
legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not
limited to, statements regarding the mineral reserve estimate, the
2021 DFS, upside potential at the Kobada Gold Project and drilling
and exploration plans of the Company. Generally, forward-looking
information can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is
expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”,
“intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”,
or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain
actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or
“will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward-looking
information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of
activity, performance or achievements of AGG to be materially
different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
information, including but not limited to: receipt of necessary
approvals; general business, economic, competitive, political and
social uncertainties; future prices of mineral prices; accidents,
labour disputes and shortages and other risks of the mining
industry. Although AGG has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in forward-looking information, there may be other
factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or
intended. There can be no assurance that such information will
prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could
differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking information. AGG does not undertake to update any
forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS
REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE
POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR
THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
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