Perseus gives green light to $124m Yaouré underground project

PERSEUS Mining this week gave the green light to the $124.6m expansion of its Yaouré gold operation in Côte d’Ivoire – a development that will see mining continue at the site until at least 2035.

The final go-ahead for the project, however, lies with the Ivorian authorities which have yet to approve the project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. A royal decree is also outstanding, although the project does have the support of the country’s mines and petroleum ministry.

If the regulatory approvals come in, the mining contractor is expected to mobilise on site at  Yaouré by April with first underground development from 2026. Once developed, the expansion project will result in the first mechanised underground mine in Côte d’Ivoire.

Yaouré’s underground section will comprise 20% of total ore processed at mine, including the original open pit operation, but account for roughly half of metal produced.

Based on measured and indicated mineral resources of 55.6 million tons, grading at 1.52 gram per ton, total mineable gold will be 2.7 million oz of which 926,000 oz will be from underground. Although life of mine has been put at 2035, Perseus said there was further scope for life extension through additional discoveries of mineralisation down dip from the currently delineated mineralisation.

The majority of the capital expenditure is scheduled for the 2026 and 2027 financial years as underground development commences.
To date, Perseus has incurred $4.1m on the project, including upgrades to camp facilities and mine services and the order of long lead items. This is in preparation for the mobilisation of the underground contractor in the first quarter of 2026.
Since producing first gold at Yaouré in December 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic, Yaouré has been become the flagship operation of Perseus’s business,” said Jeff Quartermaine, MD and CEO of Perseus Mining.