Bomboré Mine

The Company owns a 90% interest in the Bomboré Gold Mine with the government of Burkina Faso retaining a 10% carried interest. Bomboré is situated 85 km east of the capital city of Ouagadougou and is readily accessed by paved international highway thereby offering excellent infrastructure and simple logistics. Bomboré hosts large free digging oxide resources underlain by higher-grade sulphide resources. On June 26, 2019 the Company announced an updated feasibility study (“FS”) which outlines a long-life, low cost open pit gold mine for Bomboré.

Orezone is focusing on mining and processing the Phase I near surface free-dig oxides at a planned annual throughput of 5.2 million tonnes. The Company believes that Bomboré has a significant underlying sulphide resource to support a substantially larger Phase II expansion. A 77,000 m infill and expansion drill program is ongoing and once completed, the Company plans to issue an updated mineral resource and reserve statement and feasibility study, as part of this Phase II expansion. It is expected that the studies will be completed in H2-2023 to be followed by a production decision. 

Project Highlights

• Shear-zone hosted: 11 km long x 200 m average width
• Average depth of drilling to date is 120 m
• 85 km from the capital of Ouagadougou, adjacent to a major highway with nearby power and water
• 90% owned and a sliding scale 3 to 5% net smelter royalty (“NSR”)

2019 Feasibility Study Highlights

(at Base Cast gold price of $1300/oz. All reported figures are in US dollars and are on a 100% project basis unless otherwise stated)

• Pre-tax NPV_5% of $513.5M and IRR⁽¹⁾ of 61.9% with a 1.5-year payback
• After-tax NPV_5% of $361.0M and IRR⁽¹⁾ of 43.8% with a 2.5-year payback
• Mine life of 13+ years with life-of-mine ("LOM") gold production of 1.6M ounces and average annual production of 133.8k ounces in the first 10 years
• Initial project construction costs estimated at $153.0M
• LOM expansion capital costs of $63.2M
• LOM sustaining capital costs of $66.2M
• LOM cash costs of $681/oz with cash costs of $629/oz in the first 10 years
• LOM AISC⁽²⁾ of $730/oz with AISC⁽²⁾ of $672/oz in the first 10 years

1. IRR calculated from start of commercial production.
2. AISC excludes Corporate G&A.

Description

Orezone’s 150.4 km² Bomboré Gold Mine is the 16th mine to go into production in Burkina Faso. Gold resources occur at surface in several zones contained within a gold-in-soil anomaly that extends virtually uninterrupted at a level of +0.1 g/t for 14 km and represents the largest gold-in-soil anomaly in the country.

Approximately 40% of the total resource occurs in the shallow weathered horizon (average depth of about 45 m) and economic pit shells that constrain the resource can reach depths of up to 200 m.

Resources generally remain open at depth where there is excellent potential to further increase the sulphide resources. Short range strike extension potential as well as new targets suggest that additional shallow weathered mineralized material can also be added to the current mineral resources and mineral reserves.

The Company has completed the Stage 1 oxide plant and is focused on the Free Dig Oxides as a CIL operation with no crushing and minimal grinding with average recoveries of 87%.

Stage 2 will focus on the underlying higher-grade sulphides with a separate crushing and grinding circuit feeding the same CIL circuit as the oxides. This will reduce up front capital and increase annual gold production and recovered ounces over a 13+ year mine life.

Orezone is currently completing a resource and reserve update that also contemplates an expansion scenario for the oxides and sulphides which is expected to increase both ounces of gold and mine life at Bomboré.