The work under the deal, which will commence on November 1, 2020, includes movement of about 170Mt of material, including 27Mt of ore that holds in excess of 1.5Moz of gold.

EPSA's mobilisation of equipment at the site is set for the March quarter of 2020. It will then hire and train their workforce ahead of the contract start date.

Perseus's CEO and managing director Jeff Quartermaine said: "The award of the Yaouré mining contract to EPSA is yet another important milestone on the path to bringing [it] into production."

Privately held EPSA was selected from eight firms which submitted interest in a competitive tender process.

When Yaouré is fully operational, Perseus will produce an average of 215,000oz/y of gold per year over its first five years. It has an initial 8.5-year mine plan.

The Edikan gold mine in Ghana and Sissingué gold mine in Côte d'Ivoire are Yaouré's sister operations.

Company-wide, West Africa-focused Perseus is pushing to become a 500,000oz/y gold producer by 2022.