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A mineral-rich country of over 322,000 kilometers that is almost entirely underlain by the same prospective Archean and Lower Proterozoic (birimian) formations that extend into Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso. Agbaou Gold ProjectEtruscan's Agbaou Gold Project covers 939 km2, giving Etruscan control of the 40 kilometer strike length of the Agbaou Gold Belt in Côte d'Ivoire. Agbaou is an advanced stage gold deposit and one of the largest undeveloped gold resources in Côte d'Ivoire. Location
Ownership The Agbaou permit was granted to Etruscan in November 2003. Etruscan will have an 85% interest in any mining company established to mine at Agbaou with the remaining 15% being held by the State of Côte d'Ivoire.
Agbaou Resource An independent National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate was prepared by Coffey Mining in February 2008 and is summarized as follows:
A feasibility study of the Agbaou Project was completed in November 2008 by MDM International Engineering Ltd. Using a gold price of $850 per ounce, the base case scenario in the feasibility study concludes that the Agbaou Project will produce an average of 82,000 ounces of gold per year at a cash operating cost of US$507 per ounce over a 6.3 year mine life. The feasibility study is based on probable reserves of 7.4 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 2.4 grams per tonne containing 566,000 ounces. Pit optimizations were carried out using a US$750 per ounce gold price. The reserve estimation was completed by Coffey Mining in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. The study proposes open pit mining of three pits using an owner operated mining fleet with the ore to be processed through a conventional gravity-CIL plant with a design capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum. The average gold recovery is 91% and the strip ratio is 8:1. Initial capital costs for the Agbaou Project are estimated to be US$106 million (excluding working capital) and were based on the purchase of all new equipment at prevailing prices in mid 2008 at the peak of the market. The Company is currently revisiting the capital and operating cost estimates and other project improvements including pit design at higher gold prices.
Additional Exploration on the Agbaou Permit Reconnaissance diamond drilling in proximity to the Agbaou gold deposit has identified three satellite discoveries within 600 meters of the Agbaou deposit. Reconnaissance drilling to the north of the main deposit has also intersected significant gold intersections. These results provide the potential to expand the known resources in the immediate vicinity of the gold plant at Agbaou. Other Permits in Côte d'IvoireCôte d'Ivoire remains the most under-explored country in West Africa in spite of the fact that over 300,000 km2 is underlain by prospective Birimian and Archaean terranes. Many of the proven gold belts in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana converge into Côte d'Ivoire and yet, apart from the 4.4 million ounce Tongon deposit slated for development by Randgold, there have been surprisingly few multi-million ounce discoveries. Etruscan recognized the opportunity to make strategic permit applications at a time when its competitors were not active in the country. Etruscan presently has applications pending for exploration permits coveringover 8,500 square kilometers in a number of other gold belts outside of Agbaou. Maps and Photos
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