Nordgold

Gross is an all-season open-pit heap leach project, located in southwestern Yakutia, Russia, 4 km east of the Neryungri mine. The Feasibility Study confirmed the economic attractiveness of the project, giving an IRR of nearly 40% at a gold price of US$1,250/oz. Construction of the mine is nearly complete. The first Gross gold is expected to be poured in early September 2018 during the pre-commissioning process. At full production, Gross is expected to mine and process c. 12 million tonnes (“Mt”) of ore per year, producing over 200 koz of gold per year for 17 years.[7]

In March 2017 Nordgold announced a positive bankable feasibility study (BFS) for the Montagne d’Or project in French Guiana. Montagne d’Or is a world-class ore body and the BFS demonstrated an open pit mining operation with average annual gold production of 237,000 ounces over the first 10 years of mine life, at an average grade of 1.73 g/t gold that results in an average AISC of US$749 per ounce. It benefits from straightforward metallurgy, excellent expected recovery rates, and a moderate stripping ratio. By completing the BFS and a minimum expenditure outlay of US$30 million, Nordgold fulfilled all the requirements of an option agreement with partner Columbus Gold Corporation, and in September 2017 acquired 55.01% stake in the Montagne d'Or project. At the same time Nordgold signed a Shareholder Agreement with Columbus outlining the rights and obligations of each joint venture partner in respect of the project management and development. Nordgold now holds three out of five board seats on the Board of Directors of Compagnie Minière Montagne d’Or. Nordgold is also the operator of the project.[8]

Pistol Bay Gold Project is a high-grade exploration project located in Nunavut Territory, northern Canada, on the west coast of Hudson Bay. The Project is located within Arctic Canada. It is accessible by air or by sea with around a 5-month navigation period from southern Canada. There is a village, port and airstrip within ten kilometres of the property and an all season road in the eastern part of the project provides access to the Pistol Bay camp and to most of the known gold occurrences. Nordgold, through its Canadian subsidiary Northquest Ltd, is the 100% owner of the Pistol Bay Project. Total (Measured+Indicated+Inferred) Resources of 742 koz of gold at 2.94 g/t were estimated for the Pistol Bay deposit as at 31 December 2017 (Mineral Resources estimated within pit shell that is defined by a US$1,500/oz price (US$1,550/oz in 2016) and Au CoG of 1.25 g/t.).[9]

Uryakh is an advanced exploration project located in the Irkutsk region of Russia, 60 km from the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway. The Uryakh gold licence lies in the ‘Lenskaya gold-bearing province’ of the northern Baikal mineralised belt. A contract has been signed with SRK Denver to complete a pre-feasibility study for Uryakh that is expected to be delivered in Q4 2018. Based on current estimates production at Uryakh could begin as early as 2022.[10]