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Project Description
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Project Description
Amara Mining plc ("Amara" or the "company") is a junior mineral exploration and development company listed on the London Stock Exchange`s Alternative Investment Market, with its head office in London. The company is currently focused on its wholly-owned Yaoure gold project ("Yaoure" or the "project`) in Cte d`Ivoire. Amara released a Preliminary Economic Assessment for Yaoure in March 2014 showing positive project economics. Since then, Amara completed an extensive drilling program (85 000 m) between April and October 2014. There are currently no drilling activities at the project site though grade control and infill drilling campaigns will be undertaken as part of the planned Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS). The company is expected to deliver a positive Prefeasibility Study (PFS) in April 2015 which will then lead to a BFS in Q4 2015. Current work is focused on metallurgical test to confirm recovery rate and reagent consumption. The project site is a brownfield which has previously been in production twice - once beginning in 1999 by Compagnie Miniere d`Afrique (CMA) and then again in 2008 by Cluff Gold plc (Cluff). Amara acquired the CMA project in 2004. The purchase was made, under Amara`s previous name, Cluff, which was formed in 2003 (the company subsequently changed its name to Amara Mining plc in October 2012). In 2011, Amara put the mine onto care and maintenance due to the political uncertainty in Cote d`Ivoire at that time. The current status of the project is that infill drilling is being undertaken to update the resource estimate with the aim of recommencing mining through the expansion of the former CMA and Cluff project as Yaoure. A significant amount of infrastructure and services from the previous mining activities remains in place. The project comprises two exploration licenses and is located in central Cte d`Ivoire, 40 km northwest of Yamoussoukro, the political capital, and 270 km north-west of Abidjan, the economic capital. There are five villages (N`Da KoffiYabouekro, Akakro, Kouakougnanou, Angovia, and Allahou-Bazi) in close proximity to the project of which the closest are Angovia and Allahou-Bazi which lie approximately 500m east of the old pit. The five villages have an estimated combined population of 15 000. Agriculture is the main livelihood activity of the local community with crops such as rice, cocoa, yam, plantain, cassava, coffee being cultivated. The community also undertakes animal husbandry on a small scale. The area receives an average annual rainfall of around 1 000 mm. Fishing, which used to thrive on the nearby Lake Kossou, reduced significantly due to low productivity. Artisanal mining activities within the vicinity of the project, which are discussed further below, have a history that can reportedly be traced back to the 19th century. An IFC equity investment is proposed to support Amara to complete the BFS by Q4 2015. Successful completion of the BFS will be followed by: decision to proceed/not proceed; project funding; engineering design & procurement; and construction and production. Any IFC investment post BFS, i.e. potential future mine development undertaken by the company, will be assessed as a new project and its categorization would be determined after the necessary due diligence. Amara, through its local subsidiary in Burkina Faso, Segunga Mining SA (SMSA) Mining plc, operated the Kalsaka/Sega Gold mine. In August 2014, the company announced the cessation of all mining activities at Kalsaka/Sega Gold Mine. The operation was subsequently put into liquidation. This followed the receipt of a default notice to SMSA from the mining contractor at Kalsaka/Sega. According to the same announcement Amara was due to begin the closure of its two subsidiaries in Burkina Faso in Q4 2014 prior to the default notice. Thus, while the default notice accelerated this event, it did not represent a material change to the company`s strategy for Kalsaka/Sega. The company also owns the Baomahun project in Sierra Leone which remains in an evaluative phase with limited activity at site due to the Ebola outbreak.
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