Orezone Gold Announces Bombore Project Update and Quarterly Results

Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX:ORE) announced an update on its Bombore gold project in Burkina Faso, as well as a summary of its quarterly results and new cost-saving initiatives.
As quoted in the press release:

Bombore Mining Permit Application Progress
The Company has now obtained all signed protocols with the local people and stakeholders affected by the project, agreeing to the relocation in future years for all three phases of the project. The final versions of the relocation action plan (RAP) and the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) were submitted to the Ministry of Environment for their review and comment. Public hearings organized by the Ministry of Environment, to audit the Company’s previous work and signed protocols are in progress and their final comments and approvals are expected in December 2015. The Presidential and legislative elections are to commence on November 29 and could continue into December in order to achieve the required majority vote (greater than 50%). For this reason, combined with the onset of the holiday season, the Company does not anticipate cabinet approval of the mining permit application until the first quarter of 2016.
Cost Cutting Initiatives
The Company has initiated several measures to reduce its annual operating costs by approximately US$1M that are offset in the first year by severance and other costs of US$0.45M. Key to these savings includes a reduction in its head office accounting staff as a result of a voluntary application to move from a current listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) to a Tier 1 listing on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V). The proposed change in listing to the TSX-V does allow the Company to reduce costs given the different disclosure and regulatory standards required of TSX-V and venture issuers. An application to list has been submitted to the TSX-V. As part of the initiatives, Joe McCoy, VP Administration and Corporate Secretary (and previously CFO) will replace Sean Homuth as the Chief Financial Officer, effective November 30, 2015. In addition, with the Bombore Feasibility Study completed and the mining permit application in progress, the Company has reduced a few its technical staff that are no longer required until the project progresses to construction.
Quarterly Update
As at November 16, 2015, the Company has approximately US$4.9M in cash. The Company has not drawn from the additional US$5.0M Standby Royalty funds that are available from Sandstorm should the Company wish to sell (at the Company’s option) up to a 0.75% NSR royalty to Sandstorm. During 2015, the Company plans to spend approximately $6.8M, of which approximately $4.9M was incurred in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2015. This includes approximately $1.7M for the completion of the FS, application for the Bombore mining permit, weather related camp repairs, ongoing Bombore resource update ($0.1M) as well as minor exploration work at Bondi.

Orezone Gold President and CEO, Ron Little, stated:

Although we are well advanced in our permitting process and remain focused on getting Bombore “shovel-ready” in 2016, we feel it is prudent to preserve our treasury and be prepared to endure the current market conditions for as long as possible. Mr. Homuth deserves credit for bringing about many of these cost saving measures and we wish him well in his future endeavors, along with the other departing team members. On behalf of the board and stakeholders I would like to thank all of them for their efforts and years of dedication to the Company and its projects.

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