Orezone advances on Q4 gold production news
Orezone Gold Corp. [ORE-TSX] has announced its fourth quarter and full year 2024 gold production results from its Bombore gold mine in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Gold production in the fourth quarter totaled 36,502 ounces, a 37% increase quarter-over-quarter, with annual production of 118,746 ounces exceeding the mid-point of 2024 guidance of 110,000 to 125,000 ounces. Investors were guided to anticipate an all-in-sustaining cost of US$1,400 to US$1,475 an ounce.
For the full year, gold sales totaled 118,697 ounces at an average realized price of US$2,384 an ounce, resulting in revenue of US$282.9 million. Importantly, gold recoveries remain robust at the significantly higher throughput rates, with Q4 recovery at 89.1%.
Orezone shares rallied on the news, rising 4.76% or $0.03 to 66 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 91 cents and 58 cents.
The Bombore mine achieved commercial production on its oxide operations in December, 2022, and is now focused on its staged hard rock expansion that is expected to materially increase annual and life-of-mine gold production from the processing of hard rock mineral reserves.
“The fourth quarter marked another significant milestone for the Bombore Gold Mine, with record quarterly mill throughput of 1.65 million tonnes of ore processed [or 18,163 tonnes per day],’’ said Orezone President and CEO Patrick Downey. That is 27% above nameplate design and a 14% increase from the fourth quarter of 2023. “While Q4 was expected to be the highest production quarter due to mine sequencing, the higher throughput rates solidified a strong finish to the year,’’ he said.
The achievements at Bombore in 2024 have now positioned Orezone for a transformational 2025. The Stage 1 hard rock plant expansion is well advanced, with completion and commissioning set for the fourth quarter of 2025. This next stage of growth at Bombore, which will increase gold production by an additional 50%, is fully financed, and remains on time and on budget. The company is targeting annual production of 170,000 ounces in 2026.
“The Stage 1 hard rock plant incorporates the same conservative design parameters as the current oxide plant, and as such, we see the potential for significantly greater capacity than its 2.5 million tonnes per annum design,’’ the company said.
Orezone recently closed on a previously announced US$58 million term loan with Coris Bank International. Proceeds are earmarked for the Bombore expansion.
Principal repayments are deferred until January, 2026, when the hard rock plant is expected to be in commercial production. With strong operating cash flows continuing into the current quarter, the company has repaid the US$20 million bridge loan that was drawn in May, 2024.
Bombore is situated 85 kilometres east of the capital city of Ouagadougou and is accessible via a paved international highway.
The project hosts a large oxide resource underlain by a larger, open sulphide resource, and the plan has been to develop the site in two stages to reduce project costs.