Aurum unveils billion-dollar West African gold giant

Aurum Resources has muscled its way into the developer big league, delivering a stunning 1.21-million-ounce maiden probable ore reserve for its Boundiali gold project in West Africa that underpins a pre-feasibility study (PFS), projecting an 11-year mine life delivering an emphatic 1.5 million ounces of gold.

The company’s PFS outlines a technically robust and economically compelling large-scale open pit gold development that boasts a post-tax net present value of US$1.5 billion (A$2.14B) and an internal rate of return of 119 per cent.

The much-anticipated maiden ore reserve has landed at an impressive 42.1 million tonnes grading 0.9 grams per tonne gold for 1.21 million ounces of the heavy yellow metal and was derived from four open pit deposits at the project. Aurum says it represents an impressive 77 per cent conversion of its indicated mineral resources to probable ore reserves.

The PFS has outlined a 6-million-tonne-per-annum processing operation that will produce an average of 185,000 ounces of gold per year for the first five years of its life, with a whopping 201,000 ounces targeted in its first year. 

The study used a consensus mean gold price of US$4076 (A$5821) an ounce, roughly in line with the current spot price. However, even using a more conservative gold price of US$2900 (A$4142) per ounce, the project still delivers an impressive post-tax net present value of US$553 million (A$790M) and an internal rate of return of 44.1 per cent.

The pre-production capital cost to get the mine up and running has been pegged at a modest US$342 million (A$488M), which includes a US$34.2 million (A$49M) contingency. The payback period is expected to be less than a year from commissioning, driven by the projected total of 923,000 ounces of gold production in the first five years.

Aurum’s Boundiali project lies in northern Côte d’Ivoire, a country that has fast become the belle of the ball for ASX-listed gold explorers. It sits within the globally renowned Birimian greenstone belt, a geological terrain that stretches across five West African countries, including Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, and hosts a growing swarm of multi-million-ounce gold deposits.

Aurum’s project features enviable logistics, with sealed roads, grid power and an airport all within a good Aussie cooee. The presence of extensive historical artisanal workings throughout the company’s tenure is a classic pointer to near-surface gold across multiple trends that, a couple of years ago, would have been screaming “drill me” at first sight for the company’s geologists.

Aurum Resources managing director Dr Caigen Wang said: “Our Boundiali PFS confirms our initial belief that this project had the makings of something big. Now, around 28 months since picking up this ground, we have delivered a study that outlines a project with the potential to deliver very strong free cashflows and, more importantly, we see upside on every input.” 

Notably, the company’s maiden ore reserve is part of a much bigger 3.22-million-ounce mineral resource at Boundiali, which in turn is part of a massive 4.4-million-ounce group resource inventory that includes the company’s adjacent Napié gold project, 100 kilometres southeast of Boundiali.

The mine plan is based on a mining inventory of 66.2 million tonnes at 0.82g/t gold for 1.7 million ounces, which includes the new 1.21-million-ounce ore reserve. The life-of-mine plan in the PFS includes inferred mineral resources expected to be converted through further drilling and does not constitute an ore reserve under the JORC Code.

With the PFS now in the bag, Aurum says it will immediately launch into a definitive feasibility study. First gold pour at Boundiali is targeted for the first half of 2028.

The company has been on a resource-drilling blitz since picking up the project, growing it from a greenfields discovery to a 3.22-million-ounce gold asset in just 28 months. It has managed this through a fleet of 16 company-owned diamond drill rigs.

Aurum has come a long way since it delivered its maiden mineral resource estimate back in December 2024. Its total mineral resources at Boundiali have since rocketed from an initial 1.58 million ounces to 3.22 million ounces in just 17 months.

With a stellar set of numbers from its maiden ore reserve, ongoing resource drilling, further indicated resource conversions to reserves in the pipeline and a cracking PFS now on the table, Aurum looks set to continue its seemingly irrepressible charge towards becoming a significant West African gold producer.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au