Semafo Inc., a Canada-based gold mining company, said Thursday it will spend up to $125 million to increase the processing capacity of a key facility in Burkina Faso by 6,000 metric tons per day.

The expansion of its Mana mine complex aims to boost capacity at the plant to 14,000 metric tons per day, representing as much as an additional 120,000 gold ounces annually and potentially bringing Mana's total production to more than 300,000 ounces per annum.

Capital expenditures for the expansion project, set to begin early next year and finish in the second half of 2013, are estimated at $100 million to $125 million and will be fully funded through cash flow. The anticipated payback period is less than one year.

The Montreal-based company, whose shares were up 5.8 percent to $9.90 in midday trading, operates three gold mines, one in Burkina Faso, another in Niger and a third in Guinea.

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