Could you briefly introduce Allied Gold Corp?

Allied Gold is a mid-size gold-producing company with a production platform of between 375,000 to 400,000 oz/y of gold. However, our growth platform, both in terms of outputs and financial measures certainly punches above the weight class of a mid-tier: Our cornerstone assets, the Sadiola gold mine in Mali and the Kurmuk gold project in Ethiopia are world-class. Sadiola has a current guidance of around 200,000 oz/y, but once our plant expansion is complete, we can take it closer to 400,000 oz/y with an initial LOM of 19-20 years. Meanwhile, Kurmuk will start at between 250-300,000 oz/y for an initial LOM of 11-12 years out of the current Mineral Resource inventory of approximately 3.6 million oz, with immense exploration upside. I would not want to diminish the significance of our Ivorian assets, where we acquired two separate but adjacent mines, each with a production profile of roughly 90-100,000 oz/y. 

Could you elaborate on the upside potential?

With the expansion of Sadiola and the development of Kurkmuk, we are positioned to reach 600,000 oz/y by 2026 and over 800,000 oz/y by 2029. By mid-2026, Kurmuk will become our largest producer, but once the expansion of Sadiola is complete, the two mines will compete neck to neck as the leading producer and cash generator for the company.

Allied Gold Corp has signed a protocol agreement with the Malian government. Could you explain?

We took a sanguine look at this change on what this means for the economics of the project. Our position was that, instead of enforcing our rights within the existing convention available through 2037 and recourse to our arbitration or mediation clauses, we are better off finding a bonafide win-win between ourselves and the state to be able to move forward and develop more transparency and good faith. The agreement provides for the renewal of the mining permit for the Sadiola mine and the development of the Diba deposit, following the derogations of the new mining code (2023).