The company has announced that full-year gold sales reached 280,065 ounces at an average price of $3,525 per ounce. Gold production for the fourth quarter totalled 112,019 ounces, with gold sales amounting to 105,995 ounces at an average price of $4,058 per ounce.
Sanbrado
West African Resources reports that owner-mining open-pit operations at the Sanbrado M5 North pit in Burkina Faso commenced during the fourth quarter, resulting in 299,000 tonnes of ore mined at an average grade of 0.8 g/t for 7,927 ounces of gold. In 2025, full-year open-pit mining yielded 2.25 million tonnes of ore at a grade of 0.8 g/t, producing 60,510 ounces of gold.
Underground mined ounces decreased by 16% in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter, primarily due to a 14% reduction in underground grade. During this period, 141,000 tonnes of ore were extracted from M1 South at 8.4 g/t for 37,955 ounces of gold. For the 2025 fiscal year, underground mining produced 587,000 tonnes of ore at a grade of 7.7 g/t, totaling 145,894 ounces of gold.
Gold production at Sanbrado declined by 17% in the fourth quarter relative to the previous quarter, attributed mainly to a 14% decrease in mill throughput following a planned shutdown. Sanbrado produced 49,732 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter from 745,000 tonnes of ore milled at a head grade of 2.2 g/t and a recovery rate of 93.2%. Full-year 2025 gold production at Sanbrado amounted to 205,228 ounces.
Kiaka
Open-pit mining activities at Kiaka continued to ramp up, resulting in a 76% increase in mined ounces during the fourth quarter compared to the preceding quarter. With the completion of the run-of-mine pad construction, mining efforts focused on the Kiaka Main Stage 1 pit. This led to a 46% increase in ore tonnes mined and a 21% rise in mine grade for the quarter, totaling 3.27 million tonnes of ore at 0.8 g/t for 83,270 ounces of gold. In 2025, open-pit mining at Kiaka yielded 6.6 million tonnes of ore at a grade of 0.7 g/t, equating to 148,946 ounces of gold.
The Kiaka processing plant ramp-up proceeded as scheduled, delivering robust operational results in the fourth quarter. Additional diesel-generated power and enhanced grid power later in the quarter facilitated increased plant throughput and processing of harder, higher-grade ore. Consequently, gold production rose by 208% quarter-on-quarter, driven by a 25% increase in mill throughput and a 44% improvement in head grade. During the fourth quarter, Kiaka produced 62,287 ounces of gold from 2.17 million tonnes of ore processed at an average head grade of 1 g/t and metallurgical recovery of 92.9%. Total gold production at Kiaka for 2025 stood at 95,155 ounces.
Gold Sales
West African Resources indicates that unhedged gold sales for the quarter were 105,995 ounces at an average realized price of $4,058 per ounce, bringing total 2025 gold sales to 280,065 ounces at an average price of $3,525 per ounce. The variance between gold produced and gold sold is attributed to inventory build-up at Kiaka and timing of gold shipments.
Richard Hyde, Executive Chairperson and CEO, stated:
“I would like to commend both our Sanbrado and Kiaka operational teams for achieving gold production guidance for a fifth consecutive year. Combined group gold production of 300,383 ounces from our Sanbrado and Kiaka gold mining centres for the full-year 2025 was well within our annual guidance of 290,000 to 360,000 ounces, marking a record year of production for the company. We look forward to providing our full quarterly activities report in the coming weeks.”