MOVERS & SHAKERS IN AFRICA | Côte d’Ivoire Perseus Mining TWO mines are better than one “Being a one mine company is a high risk strategy for any business in today’s current economic climate,” says Jeff Quartermaine, CEO of West Africa gold company Perseus Mining. As such, Perseus Mining is working to revive its Sissingué project in Côte d’Ivoire, which it put on the back burner in 2011, and to create production flexibility for its primary Ghana-based gold mine Edikan, writes Laura Cornish. IN SHORT Once in production, Sissingué will provide an alternative income stream for Perseus Mining, thereby enabling the company to ride the ups and downs of West Africa’s mining and geopolitical changes. A SX/TSX-listed Perseus Mining delivered first commercial production from its Edikan gold mine in January 2012 and has since then spent the last two and a half years working to ‘perfect’ its operational deficiencies. As the company’s only producing asset, Edikan is the flagship. Having encountered a variety of challenges since its start-up, it has overcome them by most accounts and is well on its way to achieving the required operational efficiency the market expects from a West African gold producing mine. “We are now in a position to review our entire asset base and take steps toward achieving our next strategic objective,” says Quartermaine. The CEO is intent on expanding the company’s “live” project T C FAST FA pa The 30 00 m 0 ou o nt z of gold Edikan 2 average a ce over its will produ gold mine espan 10 year lif Edikan process plant 14 MINING REVIEW AFRICA ISSUE 7 2014 portfolio. “I would like to have at least three live projects in addition to an exploration pipeline.” This however is a long-term objective. For now, the focus is on bringing a second mine on stream while ensuring Edikan remains operationally efficient. Sissingué’s journey to production underway Situated close to the Mali border in Côte d’Ivoire, the Sissingué project holds the key to unlocking a more secure future for Perseus Mining. It is located about 70 km from Resolute Mining’s Syama gold mine in Mali and 90 km from Randgold Resources’ Tongon gold mine, also in Côte d’Ivoire. The project is no newcomer to the Perseus portfolio. The discovery was