(Ecofin Agency) - Perseus Mining released today the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for its Yaouré gold project (Côte d’Ivoire), which revealed that the mine could produce 1.36 million ounces over a lifetime of 8.5 years.

The study which was based on an ore reserve of 26.8 million tons grading 1.76 g/t Au, also estimated to 215,000 ounces, the mine’s average annual output over its five first years of existence. Overall operation cost throughout the mine’s lifetime was estimated at $759 per ounce.

To develop the project, Perseus will need a capital investment of $262.7 million. With gold price put at $1,250/oz, internal profitability rate would be 27%, recovery period would be 32 months and actual net worth would be $259 million.

The firm plans to finalize by December this year the DFS’s documentation in order to submit to the Ivorian minister of industry and mines, a request for an exploration permit.

Besides the Yaouré mine, Perseus Mining also holds in Côte d’Ivoire the Sissingué project which is expected to come online at the beginning of 2018. In Ghana, it holds the Edikan project. 

Louis-Nino Kansoun