Australian gold producer Resolute Mining has secured a 14-year mining permit from Côte d’Ivoire’s Council of Ministers for its Doropo gold project, unlocking $170 to $190 million in construction spending in 2026 and positioning the company to become a 500,000-ounce-per-year producer by end 2028.
Doropo, acquired from AngloGold Ashanti in May 2025 for $150 million, becomes Resolute’s third African gold mine alongside Syama in Mali and Mako in Senegal. First gold production is targeted for H1 2028.
- The Doropo feasibility study, updated in December 2025, projects average annual production of 169,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,406/oz over a 13-year mine life. Total project capital is estimated at $516 million.
- The post-tax net present value is $2.5 billion at a gold price assumption of $4,000/oz, a figure that looks conservative given current spot prices. Resolute CEO Chris Eger described the project economics as "extremely strong" with "significant upside potential."
- The project sits in Côte d’Ivoire’s Bounkani Region, 480km northeast of Abidjan near the Burkina Faso border, covering 400 square kilometres. The environmental and social impact assessment was approved in June 2024, clearing the final regulatory hurdle.
- Resolute’s total gold resource jumped 60% year-on-year to 17.63 million ounces after the Doropo and ABC project acquisitions from AngloGold Ashanti added 6.6 million ounces. Ore reserves rose 55% to 6.8 million ounces.
- Côte d’Ivoire produced 58 tonnes of gold in 2024 and has set a national target of 100 tonnes per year within the decade. Doropo, alongside Canada’s Montage Gold developing the nearby Koné project, will be central to hitting that target.
Bigger picture: Côte d’Ivoire is quietly becoming one of West Africa’s most important gold jurisdictions. While Mali and Burkina Faso have destabilised through military coups and foreign miner expulsions, Abidjan has maintained regulatory predictability and actively courted investment. Resolute’s willingness to deploy $539 million into the country is a direct vote of confidence in that stability premium. For the broader West African gold sector, Doropo adds to a pipeline of major new mines coming online between 2027 and 2030 that will materially shift the continent’s share of global gold output at a moment when record gold prices make African geology more compelling than it has been in a decade.
Sources: Ecofin Agency / Mining Technology / Mining Weekly / Resolute Mining
