Allied Gold's Kurmuk Gold Mine in Canada Completes First Gold Pour

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 9, Canada-based Allied Gold announced that its Kurmuk Gold Mine in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz Region, western Ethiopia, has completed its first gold pour. The mine employs open-pit mining and carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing. The first gold output marks the project's transition from the construction and commissioning phase to the initial production phase. The company plans to achieve commercial production by the end of 2026 and reach nameplate capacity in early 2027.

The initial development of the Kurmuk Gold Mine focuses on two open-pit mining areas, Ashashire and Dish Mountain, using a conventional open-pit mining system consisting of trucks and loading equipment. Ore is transported to the processing plant for crushing, grinding, and carbon-in-leach processing. The two mining areas currently hold combined proven and probable mineral reserves of approximately 2.7 million ounces, serving as the primary ore source during the mine's initial production phase.

The mine has completed construction of the crushing system and has begun feeding ore into the production process. The company previously disclosed that approximately 1.5 million tonnes of ore stockpile has been established on site, sufficient to support the processing plant's initial ore supply needs for approximately three months. The processing plant's average throughput target has been adjusted to up to 6.4 million tonnes per year, reserving operational headroom for future increases in ore processing volume.

Power supply is one of the supporting conditions for sustained mine production. On September 17, 2026, an 88-kilometer transmission line connecting the Kurmuk mining area to Ethiopia's national grid was energized. The line has a voltage level of 132 kV, and the associated substation facilities were constructed by Ethiopian Electric Power. The mine receives electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement signed with the company at a fixed tariff of approximately US$0.04/kWh. Allied Gold expects the remaining power supply facilities to be installed by November 2026, at which point the mine will have full power supply assurance.

According to the production plan published by the company, the Kurmuk Gold Mine's gold production target for 2026 is 25,000 to 35,000 ounces. In the first quarter of 2027, production is planned to increase month by month, with quarterly output expected to reach 55,000 to 65,000 ounces; the full-year 2027 production target is 240,000 to 270,000 ounces, and production is expected to reach approximately 300,000 ounces in 2028. The average annual production over the first four years of initial production is expected to be approximately 300,000 ounces, and the average annual production over the entire mine life is expected to be approximately 240,000 ounces.

Kurmuk is one of Allied Gold's major growth projects in Africa. The company expects that, as the mine ramps up to full capacity and the Sadiola mine expansion in Mali progresses, the group's annual gold production will reach 615,000 to 670,000 ounces in 2027, with a target of approximately 800,000 ounces of annual production by 2029.