Commercial production has been achieved at the Sissingué gold mining operation in Côte d’Ivoire, according to Perseus Mining. Ramp-up of operations at the Sissingué gold mine has been completed ahead of schedule. Mill throughput rates, gold recovery rates, grade reconciliation, mining rates exceed the criteria established by Perseus to define “commercial production” and the mine was cash flow positive on March 31.
“Reaching commercial production at our Sissingué is a very important milestone for Perseus as we now have a second, high-quality cash flow stream that materially reduces our reliance on our Edikan mine in Ghana for cash generation,” said Perseus Mining Managing Director and CEO Jeff Quartermaine. “Cash flows from both operations will be deployed to partially fund the Yaouré gold mine, our third planned operation, the development of which is scheduled to start later this year, now that Sissingué is successfully up and running.”
Perseus has transformed from a single mine, single country operation into a multi-mine, multijurisdictional business, and the company said it is well-positioned to achieve its goal of producing more than 500,000 ounces per year (oz/y) of gold from its three West African operations, Edikan, Sissingué and Yaouré. At the end of the first quarter, Perseus was on track to achieve full-year production guidance of 250,000 oz to 285,000 oz.