Overview

New Luika Gold Mine

The New Luika Gold Mine (“New Luika”) is currently the 4th largest mine in Tanzania and is in the Songwe District of Southwestern Tanzania approximately 700 km South-West of Dar es Salaam. Production at New Luika commenced in 2012 and the current reserve life was extended in 2022 to H1 2028. New Luika is an Open Pit and Underground mining operation and employs approximately 942 employees and contractors of which 99% are Tanzanians. New Luika has maintained its reputation as one of the safest gold mining operations of its peers.

New Luika has established a solid operational track record for converting inferred resources to reserves and extending the mine life accordingly. A total of 597 Koz of new reserves have been added to the New Luika mine plan since 2015.

Exploration activities are currently being conducted with the aim to extend the life of the operation.

Singida Project

We commenced construction of Singida in late 2020, which will be our second operating mine in Tanzania when it commences production, expected in Q1 2023, transforming Shanta Gold into a +100,000 oz/pa producer with a diversified resource base. Singida`s mining licenses were successfully extended for an additional period of 10 years in January 2022. Singida is in the Ikungi region of Central Tanzania.

Seven open pits are planned to be mined as per the current Life of Mine Plan, which extends to the end of 2029, based on existing reserves. The processing plant is designed to treat 365ktpa of fresh ore from the mine with a planned average production of 32 Koz per annum of doré over the Life of Mine.

Singida also has considerable upside potential given its location within a greenstone deposit, meaning it is well suited to further exploration growth and the crushing circuit is designed to facilitate future expansion.

West Kenya Project

Shanta acquired the West Kenya Project in late 2020, believed to be among the highest-grading gold projects in Africa, and a high-quality addition to the asset portfolio. The West Kenya Project covers approximately 556 km² of the highly prospective Lake Victoria greenstone gold field.  Presently, two potential mining centers have been identified on the West Kenya Project Shanta Gold Licences: 1.  Kakamega Potential Mining Centre (Isulu-Bushiangala is the main resource-stage target) and 2. Ramula Potential Mining Centre (Ramula is a new resource-stage target). Other highlight targets include:

• Miruka, Ochegue and Anomaly 22 are recent targets that have the potential for a discovery of a reasonably sized deposit in proximity to Ramula. 2023 exploration on these targets is aimed to deliver Inferred resources.
• Kimingini is an advanced-stage target potential to deliver a resource in proximity to Isulu-Bushiangala.  
• Rosterman-Kakamega is an early-stage, poorly tested target in immediate proximity to the historic colonial mine, which had produced 0.25Moz @ 12.5g/t Au.
• Several highly prospective additional targets in different exploration stages are identified within 10-30km distance from the Ramula and Isulu centers, including Barding-Masumbi, Aila, Nairobi Hill, and Viyalo.

Post-acquisition, Shanta has undertaken various key processes with great success to date to enhance the value accretion of this portfolio and to accelerate a construction decision for a third mine.

Exploration: Tanzania

Shanta holds exploration properties covering approximately 990 km² in the under-explored ex-colonial mining areas of the geologically rich Lupa Goldfield surrounding New Luika (959 km²) and the Singida Greenstone belt (31 km²), which extends across the mining licences at Singida.

The Lupa Goldfield is the second largest goldfield in Tanzania outside of the Lake Victoria Goldfield. From 1935 to 1959 an estimated 650,000 ounces of gold were extracted from the area.

With the underground mine at New Luika fully established, exploration activities are currently being conducted in three distinct areas to extend the life of the operation:

• Targeted locations within existing mining licences adjacent to the underground reserves at our Bauhinia Creek, Luika and Ilunga deposits;
• Within the economic circle of New Luika; and,
• Regionally, utilizing prospective exploration ground held by the Company within the Lupa Goldfield.

Exploration: Kenya

The West Kenya Project covers approximately 556 km² of the highly prospective Lake Victoria greenstone gold field.  Presently, two potential mining centers have been identified on the West Kenya Project Shanta Gold Licences: 1.  Kakamega Potential Mining Centre (Isulu-Bushiangala is the main resource-stage target) and 2. Ramula Potential Mining Centre (Ramula is a new resource-stage target).

During 2023, the West Kenya exploration team has the following key priorities:

• Continue infill drilling programme and provide an updated mineral resource estimate at Isulu-Bushiangala.
• Ongoing expansion of the drilling programme at the Ramula Camp aiming for new discoveries, mineral resource increase and additional conversion to the Indicated category.
• Continue feasibility related studies for the Kakamega and Ramula Camps.