Our Presence in Côte d'Ivoire
In 2006, La Mancha acquired Areva's gold assets in Côte d'Ivoire, consisting of an interest in the Ity gold mine in partnership with the Côte d'Ivoire government, and interests in a number of exploration tenements. With these assets, we also inherited a long and stable history of involvement in Côte d'Ivoire that extends back to before the mine opened in 1991.
Our current activities
We are presently producing gold at the Ity mine in western Côte d'Ivoire, where we are the mine operator. We are also continuing to define the resource at Ity to extend the mine life. We are conducting exploration on our other properties in central and eastern Côte d'Ivoire, which all lie in highly prospective geological settings that host known deposits.
After having suspended its activities in Côte d'Ivoire earlier this year due to political instability following the elections, La Mancha resumed production at its Ity mine on May 9, and plans to gradually restart exploration activities in the country over the course of the second quarter. With our long track record of successful operations in the Côte d'Ivoire, we are confident in the country's long-term outlook and its ability to continue to aggressively develop its mining industry. Due to the period of inactivity, we have adjusted our 2011 production forecast for the Ity mine to 15,000 to 17,000 ounces of gold.