AI model values Awalé’s Odienné at $2.25B

Analytics firm Stormlands Mining has modelled Awalé Resources’ Odienné gold-copper project in Côte d’Ivoire at a $2.25-billion (C$317.7 billion) net present value after applying a higher gold price to public technical data.

The 2,346-sq.-km property lies in northwestern Côte d’Ivoire, about 400 km northwest of the capital, Yamoussoukro. Awalé (TSXV: ARIC; US-OTC: AWLRF) manages exploration on a 797-sq.-km joint venture with a subsidiary of Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM), which funds the work.

“AI should not merely summarize technical reports,” Stormlands CEO Róisín O’Connell said in a Monday case study. “It should extract, structure and standardize the data so investors and project teams can test the same asset on a consistent basis.”

Odienné has an initial resource but no formal economic study, leaving investors without a company-backed measure of potential returns. Stormlands’ model shows the project’s sensitivity to gold, but it does not replace the engineering, cost work and risk analysis required for a preliminary economic assessment.

Price sensitivity

The Ireland-based firm built its base model from Awalé’s technical report, published earlier this year. The model produced a net present value of $891.8 million at a 5% discount rate before Stormlands applied a gold price of $4,877.40 per oz., lifting the estimate by 153%.

The higher-price case raised projected life-of-mine revenue to $6.88 billion from $4.38 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization more than doubled to $4.32 billion from $2.01 billion.

The internal rate of return increased to 152% from 69%, while the estimated payback period fell to about eight months from 17. Projected government royalties and corporate income taxes doubled to $1.53 billion from $760.9 million.

Resource base

The joint venture’s BBM deposit hosts 27.8 million inferred tonnes grading 1.16 grams gold per tonne and 0.33% copper, containing 1.04 million oz. gold and 93,000 tonnes copper. Charger adds 1.6 million tonnes at 4.62 grams gold and 0.02% copper for 231,000 oz. gold, while Empire holds 3 million tonnes at 1.23 grams gold for 119,000 ounces.

Stormlands published the analysis through its library of interactive project models, which use public technical disclosure to test how changes in commodity prices and other assumptions affect potential returns. Its earlier case studies covered the Whistler, MPD and Bralorne projects.