5th Dec 2018 11:26
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shanta Gold Ltd said Wednesday it expects Singida mining project in Tanzania to deliver on average 26,000 ounces of gold per year over an initial six year period.
Pre-production capital expenditure for the project is estimated to total USD16 million. Working capital is forecast to be USD3 million. Overall, it expects the overall life of project cash cost to be USD794 per ounce.
"Singida has always been an exciting project for the company and has the potential to propel Shanta to a gold producer with over 100,000 ounces per year by 2020," Shanta Chief Executive Officer Eric Zurrin said. "The development of Singida unlocks value for us, with very attractive economics including an internal rate of return of 67%."
Total inferred resources at Singida is 6.6 million tonnes at 1.63 grammes per tonne, representing 344,000 ounces of gold. All gold resources at Singida are located in existing mining licences held by Shanta.
"We are making steady progress with the Singida funding plan, which as we have stated previously, will be completed at the asset level and not through Shanta Gold shareholders," Zurrin added. "I look forward to providing a more detailed update in first quarter of 2019, with a target to complete the funding during the course of 2019."
For Shanta as a whole, production in October and November was described as the "strongest" in 2018. The firm remains on track to deliver on its targeted 80,000 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of USD750 per ounce.
Meanwhile, exploration drilling at Quartzberg - 45 kilometres east of its New Luika Gold Mine - is underway. At New Luika, a new daily record was achieved of 2,631 tonnes at 6.9 gramme per tonne for 584 ounces of gold.
Shares in Shanta were 4.1% higher at 4.45 pence on Wednesday.
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