CORA GOLD (AIM: Cora) 4.4p Mkt Cap £13m has for most of 2022 been steadily moving from speculative exploration to producing gold, but the price is only just off its year’s low. The recent ‘grown-up’ news flow was Optimised Project Economics (OPE).
This technical report follows the announcement of Maiden Reserves and completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study for its flagship Sanankoro Gold project in southern Mali. There are a lot of numbers in the OPE, based on a gold price of US$1,750/oz) and Maiden Probable Reserve of 422koz @ 1.3 g/t Au.
This extrapolates to a 53% IRR, a 1.22year payback and $234m Free cash flow for the life of the mine. There is significant potential 3x upside from Exploration Targets estimated to contain between 26.0 Mt and 35.2 Mt with a grade range of 0.58 – 1.21 g/t Au for a potential 1,370koz Au. This could be a 1-2m oz mine and so worth considerably more than its current market cap. Its long-term backers Lionhead confirmed continued support and is in discussions for a term sheet for up to US$30m for project financing which should further the progress.
