Investors at Mining 2009 heard from Stephen Stone managing director of Azumah Resources just where the company derived its moniker from.
Azumah was named after the plucky Ghanian boxer, Azumah Nelson who in his heyday punched way over his weight against bigger muscled opposition.
For Azumah Resources, with a growing gold resource in Ghana against a backdrop of huge gold discoveries from Ashanti Goldfields and their ilk, the company is gradually gaining traction from investors in world markets.
Investors in search of a single commodity, single country story and an explorer moving to developer status, Azumah offers serious food for thought.
Investors heard that UK retail investors as well as Gold 300 Fund were among the largest investors in Azumah. Australia's Macquarie Bank had also increased its shareholding in the company to 15.1%.
Azumah’s licences in northwest Ghana encompass over 150 strike kilometres of prospective Birimian aged greenstone terrain, the same rocks that host many of the world-class gold deposits in West Africa’s Ghana.
With over 750,000 ounces of gold resource from the Wa project in Ghana at surface to 120 metres depth, the company was well placed for a staged mining of Kunche and Bepkong deposits. At an estimated $138 million cash operating surplus, from a four year mine life, the company was fast tracking further preliminary mining studies.
Using a higher gold price of $1000 per ounce, this surplus would increase further.
Planned production was 60-70,000 ounces per annum, expected to commence in 2011/12.
A conventional CIL processing plant with a gravity circuit up front would provide for a 95% gold recovery for primary processing. Additional ounces could come from the Julie structure.
However, it was the exploration front that shook investors. Stone said the company planned a 41,000 metre drilling program, "the biggest of any program of a junior in Africa".
Stripping the the cash of $5.4 million out of the valuation, and a resultant A$44/resource ounce enterprise value left the company at half the valuation of Gryphon Minerals (ASX: GRY).
As an explorer makes the journey to developer, re-ratings in market value can occur, similar to Adamus Resources (ASX: ADU).
As Azumah Nelson often punched above his weight, so may Azumah Resources.