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Centamin PLC on Tuesday said gold reserves had seen a second year of reserve growth, with more drilling set to go ahead in 2023.
The London-based gold producer with interests in Egypt, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast said test drilling delivered a 1.3 million ounce increase in measured and indicated mineral resources at the Sukari gold mine in Egypt, an increase of 13% after 12 months of mining depletion to 11.11 million ounces at 1.08 grammes of gold per tonne.
The reserve growth at Sukari was driven by a 33% increase in underground reserves, Centamin said.
The company said there was a 5% increase in proven and probable mineral reserves to 6.0 million ounces at 1.1 grammes of gold per tonne after 12 months of mining depletion. This included adding 800,000 ounces added before mining depletion.
The addition of 400,000 ounces of 1.0 grammes of gold per tonne successfully replaced reserve depletion and extended the open pit life of the Sukari mine to 14 years, Centamin said.
Back in October, Centamin had said it produced 331,410 ounces from Sukari in the first nine months of 2022.
Chief Executive Officer Martin Hogan said: ‘Our improved geological understanding has resulted in meaningful growth of both resources and reserves at unchanged cut-off grades. The open pit mineral reserve gain replaced annual depletion for the first time since 2015, while the underground mineral reserves of 1.2 million ounces represents a threefold increase since 2020, net of mining depletion, which further supports the planned underground expansion project.’
The company has budgeted 280,000 metres of drilling for 2023, focusing on open pit resource-to-reserve conversion, exploration and testing of surface targets.
‘We have an aggressive drilling campaign across known targets within the underground and elsewhere in the concession area. We have added nearly 2Moz of gross mineral reserves over the last two years and we remain confident in delivering more growth both at Sukari and across the wider portfolio,’ Hogan said.
Centamin shares were up 0.47% trading at 107.35 pence per share on Tuesday morning in London.
By Harvey Dorset, Alliance News reporter
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