Perenti subsidiary, African Underground Mining Services (AUMS), has been awarded a contract extension at Roxgold’s Yaramoko mine in Burkina Faso.

The contract extension is valued at around A$200 million ($146 million) over two years, from December 2021 to December 2023. It follows on from the existing development and production scope currently being executed, taking the total contracted work-in-hand at Yaramoko to some A$350 million as at the end of August 2020, Perenti said.

AUMS is an operating business unit of Barminco and has been successfully operating at the mine since the development of the Zone 55 portal in 2015. The project, 200 km southwest of Ouagadougou, has now grown to include the Bagassi South mine.

In the June quarter, Yaramoko produced 32,812 oz of gold, according to Roxgold.

Barminco’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Muller, said: “The high-grade Yaramoko complex is an important project for Roxgold, Barminco and the people of the Yaramoko community. We are very pleased to extend our contract with Roxgold to December 2023 and look forward to continuing to create enduring value and certainty for our client, employees, shareholders and the people of Yaramoko and Burkina Faso alike.”

Perenti Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Norwell, said Barminco and AUMS, combined, are a global leader in hard rock underground mining, with this contract extension reinforcing this sector leading position.