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Hummingbird begins hot commissioning of its Kouroussa gold mine in Guinea

Kitco Media
By Vladimir Basov
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(Kitco News) - Hummingbird Resources (AIM: HUM) yesterday announced the start of the hot commissioning phase at the Kouroussa gold mine in Guinea, the next step being first gold pour, which is expected within this quarter, Q2 2023.

In a statement, the company said that the first phase of testing the processing plant's mechanical, electrical and overall functionality has performed per design, allowing next phase, hot commissioning to begin.

"First ore was introduced to the one million tonne per annum plant at Kouroussa on 20 May 2023," it added.

The Kouroussa gold mine in Guinea is a high grade, over 4 grammes per tonne, open pit operation, and is the company's second operating gold asset in West Africa.

CEO Dan Betts commented, "The commissioning phase of the Kouroussa mine is performing well and reached another important milestone with the commencement of the hot commissioning phase, ahead of the first gold pour. 

"While commissioning of the plant continues and nears its final stages, our operations team is preparing Kouroussa to become fully operational with the intention to reach commercial and name plate production in the second half of 2023." 

Hummingbird Resources currently has two core gold projects, the operational Yanfolila gold mine in Mali, and the Kouroussa gold mine in Guinea, which will more than double current gold production when in production, scheduled for first gold pour the end of Q2 2023.

Further, the company has a controlling interest in the Dugbe gold project in Liberia that is being developed by joint venture partners, Pasofino Gold Limited. The company said the final feasibility results on Dugbe showcase 2.76Moz in reserves and strong economics such as a 3.5-year capex payback period once in production, and a 14-year life of mine at a low AISC profile.

The company plans to become a +200,000-ounce, multi-asset, multi-jurisdiction gold producer.

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Vladimir Basov

Vladimir (PhD, MEng in Mining) is a professional mining engineer, scientist and analyst that has more than 20 years of practical in-field and research experience. He is particularly interested in collecting, processing baseline data and writing insightful data-driven mining industry analytics, articles, statistical and research reports.

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