VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/19/13 -- Oromin Explorations Ltd. ("Oromin") (TSX: OLE)(OTCBB: OLEPF), on behalf of Oromin Joint Venture Group ("OJVG"), announces that the updated NI 43-101 Technical Report for the CIL Feasibility Study ("FS") prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. ("SRK") has been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and is also available on Oromin's website at www.oromin.com. A subsequent filing of the heap leach Preliminary Economic Assessment update report is anticipated shortly.
The positive results of the FS update for the OJVG Gold Project in Senegal, West Africa were previously announced in Oromin's news release of January 31, 2013 and are summarized below. All figures are in US Dollars.
CIL FS Update - Highlights
-- Net present value ("NPV") pre-tax of $740 million and after-tax of $558 million at a 5% discount rate and evaluation price of $1550 per ounce of gold, generating an after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 27.7% with a 23 month payback-- Average annual gold production for first three years of full production at 182,000 payable ounces per year at a $489 operating cash cost per ounce-- Average annual life of mine ("LOM") gold production of 144,000 ounces per full milling year at an LOM operating cash cost of $654 per ounce-- Open pit and underground gold mining complex with a current mine life of 17 years-- Probable mineral reserves increase by 64% to 2.335 million ounces of contained gold (refer to Appendix) since the 2010 FS - the OJVG Gold Project now hosts the largest gold reserve in Senegal-- Average, predicted LOM gold recovery of 90.8%-- Estimated start-up capital cost of $ 297.1 million, including $ 27.9 million contingencyOromin believes that the Project's strong reserve base and robust economics coupled with the granting of a 15 year renewable mining licence, receipt of the Government of Senegal approved Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and the formation of a Senegalese operating company (Somigol) paves the way for the development of Senegal's next gold mine.
Optimization towards further enhancing Project economics is ongoing, including studying the mine production schedule with elevated cut-off strategies to create low-grade stockpiles, as well as possible mill capacity expansion. It is Oromin's view that with all deposits remaining open to expansion, along with the potential for upgrading of the Project's remaining indicated and inferred resources (set out in Appendix), future plant expansion and increased annual gold production may be realized.
Oromin is continuing to work with its OJVG partners and its financial advisor, RBC Capital Markets, to access development, financing and strategic alternatives towards maximizing Project value.
Authors / Qualified Persons
The technical report for the FS update for the OJVG Gold Project in Senegal is titled "OJVG Golouma Gold Project Updated FS Technical Report" and was prepared by SRK under the direction of Dr. Wayne Barnett, Pr. Sci. Nat. Douglas Turnbull, P. Geo., Oromin's designated Qualified Person for this news release has reviewed and validated that the information in this release is consistent with the information presented in SRK's technical report.
