In March 2026, Resolute Mining formally approved the final investment decision for the Doropo Gold Project in northeastern Ivory Coast, marking what the company described as a transformational step towards construction and production. The decision followed the receipt of a mining permit from the Ivorian Council of Ministers and the completion of extensive technical, economic, environmental and social evaluations confirming the project’s robust economics and viability.
The numbers are not modest. The definitive feasibility study projects average annual gold production of roughly 170,000 ounces over 13 years, totalling 2.2 million ounces. At a conservative gold price assumption of $3,000 per ounce, the project’s net present value stands at $1.46 billion with an internal rate of return of 49%. At current gold prices — well above $4,000 per ounce — those economics improve significantly.
Resolute plans to invest between $170 million and $190 million in 2026 to start construction, with the project expected to lift the company’s total output above 500,000 ounces by 2028. Doropo would become the third operating mine in Resolute’s West African portfolio, alongside Syama in Mali and Mako in Senegal. It was acquired from AngloGold Ashanti in May 2025, a transaction that now looks well-timed given where gold prices have moved.
What the timing says about Ivory Coast
The Doropo approval is not an isolated data point. It arrives as Ivory Coast has consolidated its position as West Africa’s most attractive mining jurisdiction for new capital. The project is situated in the Bounkani Region, approximately 480km northeast of Abidjan near the Burkina Faso border, in a corridor that has seen sustained exploration activity over the past decade. The Ivorian government’s decision to grant a 14-year mining permit with extension provisions signals a deliberate positioning of the country as a stable, permit-friendly environment at a moment when neighbouring jurisdictions are navigating contract renegotiations and sovereignty disputes.
For regional investors, the signal is clear. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2026, with the mine expected to run for an initial life of about 13 years and potential for expansion and additional regional development. That is a long-term commitment from an operator with existing West African infrastructure, not a speculative punt. The project has cleared technical, environmental, social and regulatory hurdles simultaneously — a combination that remains rare across the corridor.
Reading the 2028 production target
The 2028 first gold target matters beyond Resolute’s balance sheet. It places Doropo’s production ramp-up inside a gold price environment that, if current trajectories hold, will be highly favourable to new producers. JPMorgan’s $6,300 year-end target for gold, if partially realised, would substantially improve Doropo’s returns relative to the feasibility study assumptions.
More structurally, the timing reinforces Ivory Coast’s trajectory as the region’s rising gold producer. The country overtook Mali as West Africa’s third largest gold producer earlier this year, a shift that reflects both the maturation of existing assets and the arrival of new capital. Doropo, once in production, will deepen that position.
The question for regional observers is what Resolute’s commitment to Ivory Coast says about operator confidence more broadly. The company entered the construction phase with a net cash balance of $209 million, meaning Doropo is being built from a position of financial strength rather than distress financing. That is the profile of a project entering the cycle at the right moment, with the right asset, in the right jurisdiction.
For the West African extraction corridor, 2028 is not just a production date. It is the marker around which a significant portion of the current investment thesis is being structured.