Perseus to pursue gold opportunities in Ghana

Western Australian-headquartered gold explorer Perseus Mining Ltd has been granted an option to acquire the Ayanfuri gold mine in the Ashanti Gold Belt, in Ghana.

The Ayanfuri gold mine produced over 300,000 oz of gold from a shallow oxide heap leach operation which commenced in 1994.

Remaining indicated gold resources for four of the deposits within mining leases on the project area are estimated by Perseus to currently total approximately 268,000 oz, and Inferred resources currently total 276,000 ounces.

The location is under-explored for oxide gold mineralisation, as the Ayanfuri heap leach operation was limited to processing oxide ore and ceased operations when gold prices were around US$270 per ounce.

Perseus is planning an initial resource drilling program, soil sampling and an airborne magnetic survey over a large portion of the project area.

It is considered that there is excellent potential to substantially increase the resource base in the short term, with a view to delineating a mineable deposit and completing a mining feasibility study within twelve months.

The option acquired by Perseus allows it to carry out the exploration and due diligence work up to October 4 this year, before committing to the deal.

Perseus believes the Ayanfuri project has the potential to become a producing mine within a relatively short period of time, given that there is a mining lease covering all of the existing resources.

It also sees advantages in Ghana being a stable democratic country with a strong mining history.