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COVER
Perseus slays its way

to historic first

For the first time in 12 years, GMJ’s Miner of the Year has been
awarded to a solely overseas-focused company.

And with Perseus Mining Ltd taking out the title, it also marks a rare
first for an established African producer.

by Michael Washbourne

hile the likes of Gryphon Minerals, Ampella Mining, Paul Carter, of Morgans Financial Ltd, pointed to the
WPapillon Resources, Orbis Gold and even newly performance of the high-grade Sissingue mine in Cote
minted producer West African Resources Ltd have all d’Ivoire as being critical to Perseus’ success in 2020,
held the Explorer of the Year trophy, the achievements suggesting it had taken the pressure off the company’s
of the miners on the continent have seemingly paled in foundation asset, Edikan in Ghana, which until recently had
comparison to their Australian-
based counterparts.
It was a different story in 2020 as
Perseus romped to victory on the
back of producing 257,639oz at a
cash margin of $US485/oz and a
65% share price increase since
March.
What the West African-focused
company has achieved in the
past 12 months – including
pouring first gold from its third
mine late last year – is even more
remarkable considering its largely
Perth-based executive team has
been unable to visit any of its
operations for an extended period
due to the pandemic.
In casting his vote for the Miner of
the Year, Canaccord Genuity Inc
mining analyst Tim McCormack
said the consistency in which
Perseus had hit its targets could
not be overlooked.
Alex Atkins
“It was largely underappreciated
by the market, by virtue of being
in Africa, which I think is being realised in the share price at a history of cost blowouts.
the moment,” he said.
“Sissingue is starting to surprise at the moment with a bit
“I think with African projects there is a natural scepticism longer mine life than they first thought,” Carter said.
that is built into any potential investor’s psyche and
“They continue to grow their asset base and I think the
it’s almost after the fact that you get rewarded for it, as
fact they’ve just acquired Exore Resources really shows
opposed to Australian projects where a lot of the time you’ll
their commitment and ability to actually optimise their
be given benefit of the doubt ahead of the fact of the project
opportunities in-country.”
being built.”

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