Côte d’Ivoire’s emergence as West Africa’s premier gold investment destination took centre stage on day two of the Africa Down Under conference in Perth, with several Australian companies presenting highlighting the country’s supportive policies, growing production base and rich geological endowment.

Turaco Gold MD Justin Tremain said there was “no better place in the world” to be building a gold mine than Côte d’Ivoire, pointing to the quadrupling of national gold production over the past decade and the surge in exploration permits.

“The proof’s in the pudding. Gold production has quadrupled over the last 10 years. The number of exploration permits has gone from 20 to over 200. This could not have happened without a very supportive and stable government,” Tremain told delegates.

Turaco has grown rapidly since entering the country 18 months ago, building a market capitalisation of more than A$500-million and defining a 3.6-million-ounce gold resource at its Afema project.

“We are in the best country in West Africa, and we are also in the best part of that country – southern Côte d’Ivoire, close to infrastructure, power and a safe operating environment. It really ticks all the boxes,” Tremain said.

The Afema project sits on the extension of Ghana’s prolific Sefwi belt, which hosts world-class deposits such as Chirano and Bibiani. Turaco controls 1 600 km² of ground and has drilled out multiple deposits, including the Woulo Woulo discovery, where simple metallurgy and openpit potential underpin the development pathway.

Tremain highlighted that 60% of the 3.6-million-ounce resource had already been drilled to the indicated category. “This will be a mine. We are well funded, and Afema has the potential to become one of the most significant operating gold mines in Côte d’Ivoire,” he said.

African Gold CEO Adam Oehlman reinforced Côte d’Ivoire’s appeal, citing his company’s rapid growth and recent discovery success at the Didievi project.

“In 10 months we have delivered a near-million-ounce resource at high grades of 2.5 g/t, and we are aggressively drilling a 40 000 m programme to extend that further. This is just the first chapter in what will be a multi-million-ounce story,” Oehlman said.

"We are in a great postcode. We are surrounded by a million tonnes of processing capacity."

Located near Yamoussoukro, Didievi benefits from proximity to three operating gold mines, offering potential development flexibility through toll treatment or acquiring an ageing asset from a neighbour or sequencing production. "If you look at the targets, the strikes, the widths, what we already have, we believe we have the growth trajectory and ability to deliver quite a substantial standalone asset, but at the same time, it is nice to have options."

Both executives stressed that Côte d’Ivoire’s government had created an enabling environment for mining, with streamlined permitting and recognition of the sector’s contribution to economic growth.

"Côte d’Ivoire is the place that you can move at speed and create a lot of value," said Oehlman.

For investors wary of shifting mining codes in other African jurisdictions, Côte d’Ivoire’s stability stood out. “You couldn’t find a better located project in West Africa to develop a gold mine,” Tremain said.