Bankan Gold Project

Bankan is a Tier-1 gold development project approaching construction-ready status. It is expected to produce an average of 250,000oz per annum of an initial 12-year mine life.

Location: Kouroussa Prefecture, Guinea
Mine Type: Open pit and underground
Mineral Resources: 5.53Moz
Ore Reserves: 2.95Moz
Status: Development
LOM Production: 250koz per year for 12 years
Current Employees: 130
Construction Jobs: ~2,000
Ongoing Operating Jobs: ~1,000

The Bankan Gold Project deposits were discovered in 2020 and the NEB deposit is one of the largest recent gold discoveries in Africa, hosting 4.89Moz of the 5.53Moz Mineral Resource.

A Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) was completed in June 2025 outlining a large-scale, long-life and low-cost operation. PDI Gold is advancing execution readiness activities to ensure construction can commence soon after grant of the Mining Licence, which is awaiting final sign-off by the Government of Guinea. Front-end engineering design has been completed for the process plant and detailed design is underway across processing, power and site infrastructure. Major contracts have already been awarded for the power station, grinding circuit and TSF design.

The Bankan licence area covers 356km2 in four exploration permits: Kaninko, Saman, Bokoro and Argo. It is located approximately 30km north-west of the Kiniéro Gold Mine.

Geology

The Bankan Gold Project is located on the western margin of the Siguiri Basin, within the Birimian Greenstone Belt of West Africa. The project area is characterised by a sequence of volcanic and sedimentary lithologies, including fine-grained clastic sediments and mafic to intermediate intrusive rocks metamorphosed to greenschist facies, consistent with the broader Siguiri Basin geology. Gold mineralisation at Bankan is hosted within two principal deposits, NEB and BC, discovered in 2020. Mineralisation is structurally controlled and associated with shear zone hosted lodes, occurring within quartz veins and quartz-veined fracture zones. The NEB deposit hosts both open pittable oxide, transitional and fresh mineralisation as well as a high-grade underground resource.

Mining

The Bankan DFS envisages the development of open pit mines at both the NEB and BC deposits, mined in multiple stages using conventional open pit mining methods. The life of mine average open pit grade is 1.39g/t with a strip ratio of 1.9:1, reflecting a highly efficient and low-cost mining operation.

An underground mine will also be developed at the NEB deposit to deliver high-grade ore directly to the processing plant throughout the mine life. The NEB underground operation utilises longitudinal and transverse long hole open stoping with paste fill, delivering a life of mine average grade of 3.77g/t. This open pit and underground combination optimises the ore feed profile to the processing plant, enhancing overall project economics and providing meaningful grade flexibility across the mine life.

Processing

A conventional 4.5Mtpa carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing plant is proposed for the Bankan Project, designed to efficiently process both open pit and underground ore feeds.

The processing flowsheet incorporates separate primary crusher and mineral sizer circuits to handle varying ore types across the mine life, followed by a semi-autogenous grinding mill, ball mill and pebble crusher (SABC circuit). Gold recovery is achieved via a combination of gravity concentration and conventional CIL processing to produce gold doré bars on site.

The DFS estimates an average processing recovery of 92.8%, based on a grind size of P80 75µm and an average feed grade of 1.86g/t, reflecting the excellent metallurgical characteristics of the Bankan ore. Capital costs for the project were estimated at US$463M with all-in sustaining costs of US$1,057 per ounce, delivering strong financial metrics and significant leverage to the current gold price environment.

Exploration

The Bankan Gold Project has significant exploration upside, and there is excellent potential to increase the Project’s Mineral Resource base and extend its mine life. Numerous near-surface prospects have been identified within 3km of the NEB and BC deposits. Initial drilling has returned encouraging results from multiple targets, highlighting excellent potential for new satellite deposits to be defined. The NEB underground resource is also open at depth.