Hartleys site visit

Just received this update from Hartleys...

WAF (West African Res Ltd, +1.4% to 35.5cps, m.cap A$196m, Gold: Developer / Explorer): Mike Millikan

• We visited WAF’s Sanbrado Gold Project in Burkina Faso.
  
  
• Sanbrado is a high quality gold project containing the key deposits: M5 (large system, open at depth and along strike) and M1 South (ultra-high grade deposit, growing at depth), with the upgraded FS expected to be released H1 CY18.
  
  
• The project has a granted mining licence and environmental approvals.
  
  
• Infill and extensional drilling is ongoing with 3 rigs currently active and another 3 rigs to arrive for a total 6 rigs from early November – drilling being accelerated to add more ounces to the mining inventory.
  
  
• A resource update for the project is expected imminently (before the end of Oct) and we see potential for resources at M1 South to more than double, while resource confidence continues to be increased at M5 (increased Indicated resources anticipated), with another upgrade scheduled for Q2 CY18.
  
  
• The M1 South discovery has been the big game changer for the project, with a southern, ultra-high grade shoot now drilled to depths in excess of 450m and average over 1,500oz/vertical metre (abundant visible gold) – remains open at depth with drilling ongoing.
  
  
• The introduction of M1 South as an open pit and high-grade underground sweetens the anticipated open pit base feed from M5, with opportunities to lift head grades above 3.3g/t Au in the early production years for +200kozpa (assuming 2Mtpa production scale), well above the ~150kozpa targeted in the interim open pit FS (Feb CY17).
  
  
• The planned conventional CIL operation is expected to have excellent recoveries in excess of 92% (potentially closer to 94% on grind adjustment from 90 to 75 microns), with AISC of US$759/oz (Feb CY17) likely to improve substantially to sub US$600/oz.
  
  
• WAF recently completed detailed ground IP and magnetics over parts of the project area, with the collected data now being processed with results to be included in the next exploration update – exploration upside remains strong.
  
  
• WAF cash position estimated to be ~A$28M – remains well funded for ongoing drilling and completion of development studies.
  
  
• We maintain our Speculative Buy recommendation.