Name of the Project
Segele gold project.

Location
Ethiopia.

Project Owner/s
Akobo Minerals.

Project Description
A scoping study has confirmed the potential economics of the project.

Akobo Minerals is planning to mine the gold mineralisation using methods such as shrinkage stoping. Ore will be brought to surface using an incline shaft.

At peak production, almost 6 000 t a month of rock will be mined and this material will be fed into an industry-standard crushing and gravity circuit, with cyanidation where necessary.

The mine life is estimated at 27 months.

The company plans to buy a plant capable of processing 20 t/h, but will initially operate it at 10 t/h. The mine plant will be a turnkey solution comprising a grinder, concentrator and cyanide leach containers.

Akobo will manage the processing plant, but will appoint a mining contractor to do the mining.

The plant is expected to extract 90% of all gold in the mineralisation; this will be confirmed by ongoing metallurgical testwork.

Potential Job Creation
None stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
None stated.

Capital Expenditure
Total capital expenditure for establishing the mine plant is estimated at $8-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Mining operations are expected to start at the end of 2022.

Latest Developments
Akobo Minerals has reported that international mining consultancy firm SRK Consulting (Australasia) has started to update the resource estimate for its Segele project.

The plan is to mine the first gold at Segele before the end of the year.

To achieve that, three main components must be in place – a high confidence mineral resource estimate, a turnkey industry standard processing plant and a professional mining operation.

Considerable progress has been made in these areas over the past few weeks, Akobo has said. 

Akobo expects that parts of the previous inferred mineral resource will be upgraded to indicated resources, which have a much higher confidence. Such an upgrade would be a strong validation of the company’s revenue potential, Akobo has said.

It is also expected that new inferred mineral resources will be added, the results of which will be released as soon as they are available.

Akobo has said it is close to finalising an agreement with a processing plant contractor that has a long record of successful delivery of gold processing plants.

It is also finalising its options for the mining operation, including final negotiation with experienced contract mining companies.

The company has said that it can exercise several options, including operations by contractors and experienced miners that are engaged in similar operations to those planned at Segele, with excellent records working with major and junior mining companies.

With the three components close to completion, the company is confident that it will release a cash flow model of the Segele mine to illustrate the expected return on investment.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Peacocke and Simpson (metallurgical testwork).

Contact Details for Project Information
Akobo Minerals, tel +47 92 80 40 14 or email info@akobominerals.com.