14 Year Mine Life with an After-Tax NPV5% of US$1.05 Billion
All dollar amounts are in USD unless otherwise indicated
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX: ORE | ASX: ORE | OTCQX: ORZCF) (the "Company" or "Orezone") is pleased to announce an updated Life-of-Mine plan for its recently acquired Casa Berardi gold mine, located in Quebec, Canada.
Casa Berardi Life-of-Mine Plan Highlights
- 14-year mine life (2027-2040) with 1,630,000 ounces of total gold production
- Life-of-Mine average annual gold production of 116,000 ounces at AISC1 of $1,877 per ounce
- Years 2030-2038 average annual gold production of 132,000 ounces at AISC of $1,776 per ounce
- After-tax NPV5%2 of $1.05 billion at Base Case consensus gold prices3
- After-tax NPV5% increases to $1.43 billion at $4,350 per ounce spot gold price4
- Orezone has reinitiated exploration at Casa Berardi, currently ramping-up drilling to 100,000 metres per annum. Multiple actionable exploration fronts, with clear opportunity to increase underground grades, expand production and further reduce costs
Patrick Downey, President and CEO, commented "The release of the Casa Berardi Life-of-Mine plan is a significant milestone for Orezone. The result of the Life-of-Mine plan clearly underscores the opportunity and value proposition identified by Orezone in acquiring the Casa Berardi Mine. Its transformational acquisition positions the Company as an established multi-asset producer, with a significant and fully funded growth profile.
The Life-of-Mine plan highlights a robust 14-year mine life, with average annual production of 116,000 ounces at an All-In Sustaining Cost ("AISC") of US$1,877 per ounce. The initial years of the plan are marked by a ramp-up phase, with investments in new equipment, underground development and open pit waste stripping, supporting an increase in average annual production to a sustained 132,000 ounces. The Company views this Life-of-Mine plan as an excellent baseline, which with ongoing optimization and exploration, we fully expect to further increase the production profile and lower costs.
This upside potential has already been well demonstrated, with the Casa Berardi mill continuously operating at rates above that assumed in the Life-of-Mine plan, and initial exploration results highlighting the near-term potential to delineate higher-grade underground zones of near-surface mineralization.
The Casa Berardi Life-of-Mine plan also marks an important milestone in Orezone's expansion into Quebec, the foundation of which is the support of our dedicated employees, community partners and First Nations. The Company looks to continue this momentum with the release of a PEA study on its Heva-Hosco development project, located along the prolific Cadillac Larder-Lake Break in Quebec, in the fourth quarter."
Mineral Resource Statement
The updated Casa Berardi mineral resource estimates have an effective date of June 30, 2026. The mineral resource excludes material mined up to the effective date, as well as excluding stockpiles.
Mine Plan and Production Overview
The Casa Berardi Life-of-Mine plan comprises 14 years of continuous operations from 2027 to 2040, producing a total of 1,630,000 ounces of gold. Mining will be conducted via both underground and open pit, with ore processed at the Casa Berardi mill. The Casa Berardi Life-of-Mine plan includes Inferred Mineral Resources, and as such is classified as a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA")6. No mineral reserves are defined for Casa Berardi. The mine plan was completed by BBA Consultants under guidance from Orezone. The open pit and underground mine plans were evaluated using DeswikTM algorithms to create optimal mineable shapes based on economic and technical input parameters including mine dilution and recovery. Underground stope design parameters were based on current operating experience, with stopes that were uneconomic due to distance from infrastructure excluded from the Life-of-Mine plan.
Underground Mining
Casa Berardi has a long history of underground mining, dating back to the late 1980s. In recent years, mine planning by the previous operator prioritized a shift to open pit operations, resulting in a sharp decrease in investment in underground development, equipment and exploration. Orezone's Life-of-Mine plan is centered on re-establishing historical underground production rates at Casa Berardi, which based on the current mineral resource and sustained investment, supports a 12-year underground mine life.
The underground mine plan is based on continuous operations at the currently active West Mine (2027-2038), with the past producing East Mine re-commencing operations within three years (2029-2038). Underground mining practices are well established at Casa Berardi, using conventional underground equipment and long-hole open stoping methods. Mining at Casa Berardi is owner-operated, with a mining contractor recently mobilized to increase lateral development rates.
Several new pieces of underground mining equipment have recently been delivered to site, with the staged procurement of new equipment continuing through 2029 as underground mining rates are increased.
The West Mine is accessed via a hoist or a ramp down to the 1,080m level, with ore brought to surface and transported 5 kilometres to the Casa Berardi mill utilizing 60t trucks. Access to the East Mine is provided by a separate ramp, collared near the Casa Berardi mill, which has been developed down to the 730m level. Active mining in the East Mine ceased in 2023 and work has now commenced on the re-opening of the East Mine access and ramp in anticipation of re-commencement of operations in 2029.
Open Pit Mining
Mining is carried out using conventional drill, blast, load and haul surface mining methods, with an owner-operated fleet. A stockpiling strategy is employed to prioritize delivery of the highest-grade ore to the mill, with stockpiles developed to maintain consistent mill throughput during waste stripping phases.
The Life-of-Mine plan comprises four separate open pits. The current F160 pit phase is scheduled to be complete at the end of 2026, with open pit production shifting to the F134 pit for 2027 and 2028. The F160 pit expansion waste cutback is scheduled to commence in late 2027, with ore mining from the F160 pit to resume in late 2028 and continue through to 2031. The Principal (2031-2038) and WMCP (2034-2040) pits will be mined thereafter.
The F134 Phase 1 pit is permitted, with the Phase 2 permit amendment to be submitted in the fourth quarter. The F160 pit expansion will require a permit amendment, which will be submitted in the fourth quarter as well. The Principal and WMCP pits, and associated surface infrastructure, will be subject to further permitting requirements. This work has commenced and will be advanced over the coming years.
Processing
The Casa Berardi processing facility has a nameplate capacity of 3,730tpd. Run-of-mine ore is processed using a conventional single stage primary crusher followed by a two-stage SAG and ball mill grinding circuit, gravity circuit, and CIL circuit, producing gold doré. Life-of-mine average annual projected gold recoveries range from 80% to 88% for underground material and from 77% to 91% for open pit material.
Approximately 15-20% of the Casa Berardi tailings are used in the mine backfill cycle. Tailings that are not used for mine backfill are disposed of at the tailings storage facility ("TSF"). The current TSF design will support tailings deposition until 2031, after which the exhausted F134 and F160 pits will be utilized for in-pit tailings deposition. The F160 pit will host multiple years of excess tailings capacity beyond the current Life-of-Mine plan.
Gold Price Sensitivity
Enhancement Opportunities
Casa Berardi hosts multiple opportunities to further expand the mine's production profile and lower costs, including:
- Mineral Resource Expansion: The Casa Berardi mineral resource remains open for expansion on multiple fronts, including (1) opportunities to upgrade the resource category of multiple mineralized lenses within the Life-of-Mine plan, (2) the expansion of current underground ore zones that remain open at depth, and (3) the development and growth of new underground zones including the down-plunge continuation of the F134 and F160 zones beneath the open pits. In addition, drill results disclosed in the May 19, 2026 news release, as well as all drilling executed since then, are not included in the resource estimate supporting the Life-of-Mine-plan.
- New Zone Discovery: In recent years, resource growth at Casa Berardi has largely been the product of incremental step-out drilling from known zones of mineralization. Given the significant exploration and mining datasets dating back to the 1980's at Casa Berardi, Orezone is developing the first comprehensive mineral system model supporting the identification and ranking of prospective exploration targets in the near-mine area and beyond. With reference to the south side of the Casa Berardi Fault which has been mined underground to depths of approximately 1,170m, the north side of the fault has seen limited exploration drilling, specifically at depth. Hosting a proven gold-bearing hydrothermal system and ore zones currently being mined by open pit, the north side is considered to be highly prospective and represents a key area for exploration in years to come.
- Higher Grades: With an established 12-year underground mine life, Orezone's key exploration focus is to re-establish high-grade underground stope inventory. Supported by sustained exploration and underground development between 2006-2016, the West Mine historically achieved an average annual production of approximately 141,000 ounces at a head grade of approximately 7.0 g/t. Exploration drilling ramping up to a sustained 100,000 metres per annum in upcoming years will provide opportunities for high-grade discoveries, with the goal of sequencing higher grade ounces into the front end of the mine plan, further increasing the production profile and lowering the AISC.
- Regional Exploration: The Casa Berardi exploration tenements are centered on 37 kilometres of strike along the Casa Berardi Fault Zone, which to date has seen limited systematic exploration. As with the Cadillac Larder-Lake and the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zones to the south which host multiple operating mines along comparable strike lengths, the Casa Berardi property has the potential to host several other gold deposits.
- Increased Mill Throughput: The Life-of-Mine study assumes a mill throughput rate of 3,835tpd. Since acquiring the Casa Berardi Mine, Orezone has optimized the average mill throughput to approximately 4,025tpd, and has achieved daily rates of up to 4,775tpd. Higher achieved mill throughput moving forward presents the opportunity to realize incrementally higher annual gold production than that detailed in the Life-of-Mine plan.
- Optimization: Key areas of focus to further optimize operations include:
- Open Pit Grade Control: Implementation of open pit grade control drilling presents the opportunity to reduce external dilution and incrementally increase head grades by further constraining ore and waste dig polygons. Additional benefits include further mill feed flexibility with additional ore grade bins, and overall improved reconciliation.
- Improved Gold Recoveries: Opportunities to improve gold recoveries include additional metallurgical domaining studies to optimize the material feed blend to the mill, as well as further plant optimizations, including upgrading the mill process control system to current industry standards.
- Updated Recovery Curves: The metallurgical grade recovery curves at Casa Berardi were developed when the mine was operating at a higher head grade, with the current lower grade extrapolations yielding lower recoveries than actuals. Updating the grade recovery curves for the lower grade profile outlined in the early years of the Life-of-Mine plan provides upside potential to that currently being assumed.
Technical Report Filing
The National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report supporting the Casa Berardi Life-of-Mine plan and the Mineral Resource Estimates will be filed on SEDAR+ within 45 days of this news release.
About Orezone Gold Corporation
Orezone Gold is an emerging intermediate gold producer with operations in Canada and West Africa. Its Casa Berardi and Bomboré gold mines host significant mineral endowments, growth opportunities, and exploration upside. The recently acquired Casa Berardi mine in Quebec has produced over 3.2 million ounces of gold to date while the Bomboré mine was constructed and brought into production by Orezone in late 2022.
Orezone is led by an experienced management team committed to safe, sustainable, and responsible mining practices, with a focus on delivering long-term value for all stakeholders.
