By: OrePulse

Cora Gold said front-end engineering design work on its Sanankoro gold project in southern Mali remains on schedule for completion in the fourth quarter of 2026, moving the West Africa-focused miner a step closer to a final construction decision.

SENET, an engineering subsidiary of DRA Global, is managing the design process, known as FEED. FEED work generally finalizes plant layouts, equipment specifications and infrastructure planning ahead of construction. Cora Gold said all fieldwork tied to the process is now complete, and three-dimensional modeling of the planned processing plant is complete. Suppliers of major equipment have already been engaged for the comminution, carbon-in-leach and elution circuit packages, and detailed engineering drawings for the project's other major process areas continue to advance.

Chief executive Bert Monro said Sanankoro "is rapidly moving towards construction readiness, with FEED going very well." He added that completing plant modeling and engaging equipment suppliers across the comminution, carbon-in-leach and elution packages underscored that progress.

Beyond the design work, Cora Gold has finalized compensation payments needed to secure land for a 174-hectare tailings storage facility planned for the project. At the exploration camp near the site, the company completed an upgrade that added a new security perimeter fence, refurbished worker accommodation, and improved water storage infrastructure as part of broader preparations for an eventual construction phase. Cora Gold said the land and camp work sit alongside the engineering effort as parallel steps toward development readiness.

Cora Gold is separately pursuing growth in Sanankoro's gold inventory, aiming to push the resource past one million ounces by testing extensions to the known deposit and drilling additional greenfield targets nearby. The company has not yet disclosed an updated, formally reported resource estimate for the project. [uncertain]

On the regulatory front, Mali's government took a related step: the Council of Ministers signed off on the first interim extension of the Sanankoro II exploration license, which Cora Gold pointed to as progress toward eventual development approval. The company said it continues discussions with the Malian government over additional permit applications and over efforts to consolidate its mining licenses under a single permit area.

If Sanankoro proceeds to construction, it would add to a wave of new gold mines advancing across West Africa. This region has drawn heavy investment from junior and mid-tier producers as gold prices have remained elevated. Southern Mali already hosts several producing and developing gold operations, and Cora Gold has positioned Sanankoro as a potential new source of supply from the area, pending completion of the engineering work, permitting and a final investment decision. Taken together, the completed fieldwork, advancing plant design, secured tailings land, and renewed exploration permit mark a cluster of milestones the company is citing as evidence that the project is approaching a construction-ready state.