Semafo is on the verge of production from their first low cost mine any day now:
Montreal, Quebec, December 12th 2001 - SEMAFO is pleased to announce that the Jean Gobele Gold Project is currently still on budget and schedule to start production in March 2002. Plant construction is well advanced with the CIL tanks completed and most of the equipment now at site. The SAG mill is now being installed. A fuel contract has been awarded to Shell, and a Letter of Intent has been issued for the mining contract to BCM, an Australian mining contractor based in Ghana. The tailings and water dams were completed before the wet season and are now full, ready for start-up. The administration block, clinic and accommodation blocks are now complete. The Project will produce 60,000 ounces per year at a cash cost of US$157 per ounce.
Beyond this they have several promising exploration properties in West Africa with millions of potential additional gold oz:
1)In Niger, we acquired a 50% controlling interest in the Samira-Hill and Libiri deposits from Etruscan Resources Inc. Together these two neighbouring deposits represent 763,000 ounces in measured resources, 727,000 ounces in indicated resources and 505,000 ounces in inferred resources, for a total of 1,995,000 ounces of gold. The revised feasibility study calls for the setup of a 6,000-tonne-per-day mill facility, involving life-of-mine cash costs of US$194 per recovered ounce and US$136 for the first year. The projected internal rate of return is 62% of the price of gold at $300/ounce.
2)In Mali, we now have a 75% interest in the Ségala deposit, previously held by Oliver Gold. The global geological resource, including oxide and sulphide ores from all of the zones, has been estimated at 15.4 million tonnes with an average ore grade of 2.75 g/t Au. A 3.0 g/t cut-off grade confirmed the presence of 3,260,000 tonnes of indicated gold ore grading 6.21 g/t.
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