AMN - SOUTH AFRICA – Inaugural gold pour at Elikhulu

Pan African Resources has completed the inaugural gold pour at its Elikhulu tailings retreatment plant in South Africa. The commissioning phase is scheduled to be completed in September 2018, with annual steady-state production of about 55,000 ounces of gold.

The construction of Elikhulu was completed ahead of schedule and within its R1.74-billion budget.

Pan African expects an all-in sustaining production cost of between US$650 and US$700 per ounce.

The company's CEO Cobus Loots said: "The completion of Elikhulu´s construction and the inaugural gold pour, ahead of schedule and in line with the project budget, is a further significant milestone as we deliver into our strategy of repositioning the group as a low-cost, long-life gold producer.

"Elikhulu is delivering much needed new employment opportunities and is an economic boost for our local communities and for South Africa´s Mpumalanga province.

"The professional way in which the project was executed, delivering into all milestones in a safe and sustainable manner, again demonstrates our team´s ability to conceptualise, plan and complete very substantial growth projects.

"We expect Elikhulu to be a flagship operation within our low-cost, long-life asset base and we will continue to focus on improving and expanding our portfolio in a sustainable manner to the benefit of all stakeholders."

The incorporation into Elikhulu of the Evander Tailings Retreatment Plant, which has a monthly throughput of 200,000 tonnes, is on track and scheduled for completion in December 2018. After this, the enlarged Elikhulu plant is forecast to process monthly throughput of 1.2-million tonnes and is expected to annually produce about 70,000 ounces of gold.

Elikhulu's construction phase employed as many as 1769 people and will directly employ more than 350 permanent employees and contractors during its operational life of 14 years.

During its construction phase, more than R162 million was paid as preferential procurement to community contractors for services rendered during this phase of the project to date.

Over the life of the project, Elikhulu is expected to produce 674,000 ounces of gold with a value of approximately R11.5 billion, inject R5.3 billion into the South African economy for sourced goods and services, and contribute an estimated R1.3 billion to the South African revenue authorities in taxes and royalties.

www.panafricanresources.com