Edikan Gold Mine old

Ghana

Edikan Gold Mine (90% owned by Perseus)

The Edikan Gold Mine is a large-scale, low-grade multi open-pit operation located on the prolific Ashanti Gold Belt, Ghana, which has a gold endowment of more than 170 million ounces.

Perseus produced first gold at Edikan in 2011, and the mine has since produced more than 1.7 million ounces of gold.

At 30 June 2020, remaining Reserves at Edikan totalled 1.61 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 1.10g/t gold.

Edikan was Perseus’s first mining operation commencing commercial production in January 2012. The mine is located in south western Ghana within the Ashanti Gold Belt. Gold ore is sourced from several open pits and processed through a centralised processing facility with capacity to process up to 8.0 million tonnes of ore per annum. From 1 July 2020, gold production will average 212,000 ounces per annum for the remaining currently known 7 years of mine life, including average gold production of approximately 231,000 ounces per annum over the next four years. AISCs are expected to be in the range of US$870-US$890 per ounce over the remaining life of mine.

Perseus currently plans to build an underground gold mine to access the Esuajah South deposit and is undertaking a cutback of the AG open pit, both of which are intended to increase Perseus’s gold production capacity.

In 2019, Perseus signed an option agreement with local Ghanaian company, Adio-Mabas Ghana Ltd, to acquire the 23.85sq km Agyakusu Prospecting License, PL 2/177, that adjoins Perseus’s Edikan mining leases, and is located between 2km and 8km from the Edikan processing facility. Exploration success at Agyakusu could potentially extend Edikan’s mine life.

At Edikan, 99% of our employees are Ghanaian nationals including 44% of the workforce that is drawn from the local communities. Mining has been undertaken on an industrial scale for many years in Ghana resulting in a knowledgeable and highly skilled Ghanaian population.

Perseus’s strong community relations are managed by our inhouse Social Development team who regularly communicate with traditional authorities as well as regular villagers, participate on various community committees and get involved in many community projects and activities. Perseus established and now funds the Edikan Trust which is a community administered fund charged with delivering community-initiated projects including various forms of infrastructure, and livelihood development projects. In addition, Perseus independently funds a range of education, health and social well being programmes within the five villages located adjacent to the mine.

Edikan Key Points

Economically attractive – US$950 per ounce all-in site cost and US$264M after tax cashflow at a gold price of US$1,250 per ounce
Technically robust – operating and processing costs and parameters known, resource/mill reconciliation performance well understood
Minimal incremental capital – all major capital works associated with the exiting mine are complete with only incremental TSF lifts remaining to be constructed
At 30 June 2020, Mineral Resources totalling 3.0 million ounces have been delineated including 1.61 million ounces of Ore Reserves with a grade of 1.10g/t Au
Potential to extend current seven-year mine plan through near mine exploration and inclusion of known Resources and Reserves into the mine plan
Delivering significant value to Perseus’s shareholders from strong ongoing cash flows