• Perseus Mining to sell Sudan gold project stake for $260 million

• Sale follows project delays caused by Sudan conflict

• Company shifts focus to core gold mines in West Africa

Australian gold miner Perseus Mining said on Monday it had agreed to sell its 70% stake in the Meyas Sand gold project in Sudan to a subsidiary of Chinese group Zhejiang Lygend Investment for $260 million. The sale marks Perseus’s exit from the project and its broader withdrawal from Sudan, about four years after entering the country in 2022.

Perseus will receive a deposit on signing, with the balance due at closing, expected by April 22. The company said the deal follows a multi-year review of the project, whose development has been stalled since 2023, largely because of the ongoing conflict in Sudan. Perseus had partnered on the project with the Sudanese government and local firm Meyas Nub Multiactivities Company, which hold the remaining 30%.

The project was expected to produce an average of 167,000 ounces of gold annually over a 13.6-year mine life. The Chinese group could now move the project forward, while Perseus focuses on developing its core assets.

“Perseus maintains the view that the MSGP is a high quality, gold project. A strategic review of MSGP was undertaken as a result of the protracted armed conflict in Sudan and its impact on Perseus's ability to progress the development at suitable scale. The sale represents an important step for Perseus in its portfolio optimisation and allows allocation of resources to core assets and its growth strategy,” Chief Executive Craig Jones said.

Perseus operates three gold mines in West Africa: Sissingué and Yaouré in Côte d’Ivoire and Edikan in Ghana. The company is also developing a fourth mine, Nyanzaga, in Tanzania, which is expected to start production in 2027.

With this portfolio, Perseus is targeting average annual gold production of between 515,000 and 535,000 ounces from 2026 through 2030.

Aurel Sèdjro Houenou