$630m upgrade to sitarail, page-37

Ann 20/03/18
Birimian has replaced the previous hybrid road-rail transport model with a road transport only option to deliver its concentrate to port. While plans have been announced to significantly upgrade railway links from Mali to Senegal and between Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, these projects will not be completed within a timeframe that would allow consideration of rail as an initial transport option for Goulamina.

Sufficient road transport capacity to transport the 380,000 tonnes/pa of concentrate that would be produced by a 2Mtpa processing plant has been identified. While Birimian continues to consider both the Ports of Abidjan and Dakar, the Company is likely to use the Port of Abidjan for its concentrate exports. Abidjan is the biggest, best equipped and most efficient port in the region and is closer to Goulamina than Dakar. Both ports have bulk loading facilities that are under-utilised, while nearby product storage locations also have been identified.

Ann 28/05/18
Further cost optimisation work on Goulamina has resulted in an additional 5% reduction in projected C1 operating costs, which are now anticipated to be in the region of US$280-285/tonne. Previously, Birimian announced (BGS; 20 Mar 2018) that projected C1 operating costs for Goulamina had been cut from US$379/t to below US$300/t and the Company was seeking further reductions. In addition to previously announced cost reductions in product transportation and logistics, power and fuel costs, further savings are now anticipated in process labour and maintenance costs.