Robex Extends Life of Mine for Nampala Gold Mine With Updated Technical Study
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Increased Reserves Life of Mine (“LoM”): Nampala mine life extended to December 2026 (from June 2026) with Mineral Reserves at 121Koz ounces @ 0.93g/t;
- Potential to grow Mineral Reserves: Indicated Mineral Resources (inclusive of Mineral Reserves) of 243Koz @ 0.94g/t Au;
- Economics: Consensus Case (Gold Price: US$2,490/oz):
- Pre-tax Net Present Value at discount rate of 5% (“NPV5%”) of US$106.1M, and
- Post-tax NPV5% of US$71.1M.
- Average annual gold production: Nampala is expected to produce 52,000 ounces gold per year over LoM
- Costs in line with budget: LoM All-In Sustaining Costs (“AISC”) of US$1,106 /oz.
QUÉBEC CITY, Jan. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Robex Resources Inc. (“Robex” or the “Company”) (TSXV: RBX) is pleased to announce the results of an updated NI43-101 technical report (the “Study” or the “Report”) for its Nampala Mine (“Nampala”) in Mali.
Robex Managing Director Matthew Wilcox commented: “Increasing the life of mine at Nampala is an important step for Robex to define the future for this asset. The team at Nampala has done a fantastic job of continuing to produce gold at low costs in a challenging environment.
Nampala is expected to continue to produce free cash on a monthly basis and continue to support our development of the Kiniero gold mine in Guinea, which we have demonstrated can produce 139,000oz gold per year over its 9.5-year mine life and is set to pour first gold later this year.”
The Report was prepared in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). The independent NI 43-101 technical report supporting the Nampala Study will be published on SEDAR at www.sedar.com within the next 45 days.
Napala’s updated economic model was run at two gold prices;
- Scenario 1 with gold price of US$1,800/oz used for the Mineral Reserve, and
- Scenario 2 with the S&P consensus long-term gold price at end of October 2024, ranging from US$2,490/oz to US$2,314/oz.
The Study extends Nampala Life of Mine (“LoM”) to December 2026 (versus June 2026) with Mineral Reserves of 121Koz at 0.93 g/t Au. The post-tax NPV5% at consensus gold price is US$71.1m as shown in Table 1
Table 1: Summary of NPV Scenarios (as of 1 September 2024)
Scenario | Unit | NPV 5% | |
Pre-Tax | Post-Tax | ||
Scenario 1: $1800/oz | US$m | 48.2 | 28.8 |
Scenario 2: The S&P consensus gold price (at end October 2024) | US$m | 106.1 | 71.1 |
TECHNICAL STUDY DETAILS
Overview
The Nampala Property is comprised of a contiguous block of one mining permit (Nampala Mine) and three adjoining exploration permits (Mininko, Gladie and Kamasso). The Property is located in the Sikasso and Kolondieba Circles of the Sikasso Region in southern Mali, and is approximately 255km southeast of Bamako, the capital of Mali, and ~60km southwest of Sikasso, the capital of the Sikasso Region as shown in Figure 1 . The Nampala Gold Mine is approximately 40km northwest of Resolute Mining’s 4.0Moz Syama Gold Mine.
Within the Property, the Nampala Gold Mine is a Production Project that involves ongoing mining and processing activities. The adjacent exploration permits are advanced exploration projects with detailed exploration work, including drilling and trenching.
Figure 1 Regional location of the Nampala Gold Project
Geology
The Property is located within the Kadiana-Madinana Domain of the Birimian Supergroup in southern Mali (Figure 2). This Domain is located within the broader Baoulé-Mossi Domain, a significant greenstone belt of West Africa renowned for its gold mineralisation.
Figure 2 Simplified Regional Geology of the Bagoe Greenstone Belt
Source: Micon (2024) modified from Ballo, et al. (2015)
The Birimian Supergroup is a significant component of the West African Craton, formed around 2.2 Ga to 2.0 Ga. It comprises a sequence of intensely deformed and metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The Birimian is typically divided into two parts: a lower volcanic group with basalts and andesites and an upper sedimentary group with greywackes, sandstones, and shales. These turbiditic sedimentary rocks are significant, as they often host significant gold mineralisation.
The local geology of the Nampala Property and its surrounding permits are primarily based on the studies conducted by Baril et al. (2011), Boisse et al. (2020), the mapping and studies completed by BRGM and the geological interpretations made by Micon International Co Limited (Micon) who were responsible for the geological and resource modelling for this Report, and overall compilation thereof.
The Nampala Mine and the adjacent Mininko permit exhibit geological characteristics like those observed within the neighbouring Gladie and Kamasso permits. The primary lithological units, include significant marker horizons such as graphitic shales that extend southward from the Nampala Permit into these areas, continuing beyond the southwestern boundary of Kamasso.
The Nampala Mine and the Mininko permit are situated within the pelitic shale and arenite units of the Bagoe Formation, which belong to the Birimian Supergroup. This formation trends north-northeast, spanning several hundred kilometres into Côte d'Ivoire and dipping beneath the Taoudeni Basin to the north.
Gold mineralisation of the Nampala Property is like many other Palaeoproterozoic gold deposits in the Baoulé-Mossi domain of the West African Craton that formed during a craton-wide gold metallogenic event late in the Eburnean Orogeny (Lawrence, Treloar, Rankin, Harbidge, & Holliday, 2013).
Gold mineralisation is primarily hosted within competent, coarse-grained turbiditic units, specifically greywackes and siliceous sandstones. These lithologies, characterised by their brittle nature, facilitated the fracturing and subsequent vein formation. Gold occurs predominantly within structurally controlled tension quartz vein systems and stockworks that exploit these fractures and associated zones of enhanced porosity.
The tonalite intrusion, enveloped by lamprophyres, also contains mineralised quartz veins that share a similar orientation with those observed in the metasediments, suggesting a common structural control on mineralisation. Although the lamprophyre intrusions exhibit limited mineralisation, confined primarily to their margins, they appear to influence the spatial distribution of gold significantly. This is evidenced by the preferential concentration of gold mineralisation in the metasediments proximal to the lamprophyre contacts, supported by lithological competency contrasts and geochemical gradients.
Conversely, shear zones are predominantly developed within the more ductile, often graphitic, shales. These shear zones, however, are typically barren of significant gold mineralisation.