Modern Mining October 2017

October 2017 Vol 13 No 10 www.crown.co.za M ODERN MINING IN THIS ISSUE…  Goldplat targets more primary production

 Shango – a leader in African geology  Feature: Loaders, excavators and trucks

MODERN M I N I N G

CONTENTS

OCTOBER 2017

ARTICLES

MINING NEWS 4 Fekola pours its first gold three months early 5 Asanko acquires Miradani project 6 Wet commissioning underway at Houndé 7 Roxgold upgrades its production guidance 8 Endeavour gives the go-ahead for Ity CIL project 9 Hummingbird looks to earn in on Kobada 10 T3 copper project makes“excellent progress” 12 Mako in Senegal to pour its first gold in early 2018 14 Positive PFS completed on Nigeria’s Segilola gold project 16 Drilling demonstrates high-grade nature of Tijirit orebody PRODUCT NEWS 52 MRS develops mobile dewatering unit 52 Caterpillar develops battery electric proof-of-concept LHD 53 DemcoTECH delivers tailings disposal system 54 Concrete silos at diamond mine rehabilitated 55 Containerised switchgear solution for DRC copper project 56 Chryso launches eco-friendly dust suppressants 58 Weir offers ‘infinite flexibility’maintenance packages 60 Iron ore mine opts for Kwatani screens COVER 18 Volvo’s A60H hauler proves a smash hit in local market GOLD 22 Goldplat targets more primary gold production FEATURE – GEOLOGY AND EXPLORATION 26 Tsodilo Resources starts LDD programme at BK16 29 DRC – the right time for exploration is now 32 Shango – a front-runner in the field of African geology FEATURE – LOADERS, EXCAVATORS AND TRUCKS 38 BELAZ trucks prove their worth in the Northern Cape 40 Boosting mining productivity with Scania’s new heavy tipper 43 Iron ore miner to expand autonomous truck fleet 44 Cummins Filtration partners with key mining customer 46 Excavators deliver precision and productivity 47 Largest wheel loader destined for Zambia 48 Burma Plant Hire revitalises its heavy earthmoving fleet 50 Bell Equipment enters the tipper truck market REGULARS

Editor Arthur Tassell Advertising Manager Bennie Venter e-mail: benniev@crown.co.za Design & Layout

Darryl James Circulation Karen Smith Publisher Karen Grant

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Deputy Publisher Wilhelm du Plessis Printed by: Shumani Mills Communications

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher.

Published monthly by: Crown Publications cc P O Box 140, Bedfordview, 2008

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Tel: (+27 11) 622-4770 Fax: (+27 11) 615-6108 e-mail: mining@crown.co.za www.modernminingmagazine.co.za

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Cover Volvo’s A60H, the biggest true artic- ulated hauler in the world, is proving popular in the local market, reports Babcock, the Volvo Construction Equipment dealer for Southern Africa. See our story on page 18 for further details.

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Average circulation (April–June 2017) 4277

October 2017  MODERN MINING  1

COMMENT

Alphamin makes amazing progress on DRC tin project

I have to hand it to the Alphamin team that is developing the Bisie tin mine in the depths of the DRC. Despite the mine being located in North Kivu province, an area which has been plagued with po- litical instability in the fairly recent past and which is almost devoid of modern infrastruc- ture, they’ve made incredible progress with the project over the past year. A contractor is already hard at work devel- oping the underground mine, construction of the processing plant is due to start early in 2018 and first production of tin concentrate is expected in the first quarter of 2019. This is an impressive achievement if one considers that the mine was all but inaccessible (except by foot or by helicopter) until well into last year, when Alphamin carved out a 38 km access road through the dense tropical forest that covers much of North Kivu. Even with the road in place, travelling to Bisie is still fairly time-consuming, as I saw for myself on a recent trip to the project organised by Alphamin for a small group of journalists. Getting to Goma, the capital of North Kivu, was the easy part. We flew from Johannesburg to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, and from there it was a three-hour drive to the Rwandan town of Gisenyi, at the northern end of Lake Kivu. Gisenyi adjoins Goma, which is where one crosses into the DRC. Bisie lies about 180 km to the north-west of Goma and is accessed from the Goma-Walikale-

hours (depending on how much rain there’s been) to the mine by four-wheel drive vehicle. Alphamin’s senior executives including Boris Kamstra, the company’s MD, Trevor Faber, who is COO (and is based on the mine and directing its construction), and Richard Robinson, MD of Alphamin’s DRC subsidiary, accompanied our group throughout the tour. I’ve often listened to Boris talking about Bisie in Johannesburg and describing its beauty and now – having visited myself – I can see he was not exaggerating. The tropical forest in the Walikale area is indeed spectacularly beautiful and, for the most part, untouched by human settlement. Boris has long argued that the narrative of North Kivu being an unstable and insecure part of the world is outdated. Obviously, a two-day trip – such as the one I was on – is insufficient to allow one to come to any firm conclusions but I can certainly verify that our group saw absolutely nothing untoward throughout our visit. North Kivu – at least the parts we saw – appeared to be entirely at peace and commu- nity members we interacted with were, without exception, friendly and welcoming. I will be writing at length about Bisie in an upcoming issue but, in the meantime, my thanks to Boris and his colleagues for one of the most memorable trips that I’ve enjoyed during the nearly 20 years I’ve been reporting on min- ing in Africa. Arthur Tassell

Kisangani road. The problem is that the road is currently in a state of disre- pair and apparently all but impossible to negotiate unless you have a few days to spare. The alternative to driving is obvi- ously to go by air, which is what we did. This involved a 30-minute fixed wing charter flight from Goma to Walikale ‘airport’, which is actually a section of the main road which is still in good condition and which serves as a land- ing strip. One might think that landing (and taking off) on a fairly narrow strip of asphalt might be hair-raising but not so. Our skilled pilots made the expe- rience seem totally routine. From the ‘airport’ it is still another three to four

Walikale ‘airport’ in the DRC (photo: Arthur Tassell).

October 2017  MODERN MINING  3

MINING News

View of the 5 Mt/a plant at the Fekola mine in Mali. The first gold pour was on 7 October (photo: B2Gold).

Fekola pours its first gold three months early

B2Gold Corp, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and listed on the TSX and NYSE American, reports it has completed construction of the Fekola mill and com- menced ore processing, more than three months ahead of schedule and on budget, at the Fekola mine in Mali. The first gold pour took place on 7 October 2017. The company expects to achieve com- mercial production and produce between 50 000 and 55 000 ounces of gold by the end of 2017. In addition, B2Gold has

announced it has completed a new Life of Mine (LoM) plan for the Fekola deposit that projects higher mill throughput and annual gold production, and lower pro- jected operating costs per ounce and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce of gold than the original (4 Mt/a) plan in the Optimised Feasibility Study (OFS). The new LoM plan was completed based on the expanded 5 Mt/a mill throughput and takes into account an early start-up, increased processing mate of mineral resources for the Bondi deposit. The results underscore the value of the property in the development of the southern Houndé Belt with new gold dis- coveries potentially being highly accretive to various development scenarios being contemplated, says Sarama. Results are reported for 82 holes totalling 2 800 m of aircore drilling with highlighted downhole intersections including 8 m at 1,50 g/t Au from surface in DJA0061 (100 % oxide); and 27 m at 1,07 g/t Au (EOH) from

throughput, and improved open-pit design and scheduling versus the OFS. The Fekola project has been built using the same construction team that had previously completed four gold mines, on schedule and on budget, for B2Gold’s predecessor company (Bema Gold Corporation) and B2Gold. Prior to construction, the company recognised the exploration potential beyond the initial reserves and decided to build the Fekola mill with a 25 % design factor to surface in DJA0060 (100 % oxide). Sarama’s President and CEO, Andrew Dinning, commented: “We are extremely pleased that the first drill programme on the property following its recent acquisition by Sarama has delivered immediate results. The intersection of broad oxide mineralisa- tion in areas away from the Bondi deposit provides substantial encouragement that further exploration will add to the historical estimated mineral resources of the deposit and we look forward to conducting more extensive follow-up programmes next exploration season.” 

Sarama intersects gold mineralisation near Bondi Sarama Resources, listed on the TSX‑V, has announced that reconnaissance aircore drilling has intersected shallow, oxide gold mineralisation over broad intervals approxi- mately 4 km north-east of its 100 %-owned Bondi deposit in south-western Burkina Faso. The Bondi deposit is of high strategic value, making it the key component of the company’s 100 %-owned ThreeBee project. The drill results demonstrate the poten- tial to add mineral resources to the project, building on the existing historical esti-

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MINING News

Asanko Gold acquires Miradani project

Asanko Gold Inc, listed on the TSX and NYSE American, has acquired the Miradani project, which is adjacent to the Asanko Gold Mine (AGM) in Ghana, West Africa, from AngloGold Ashanti. Covering an area of approximately 15 km 2 , the Miradani project is on an existing min- ing lease (valid until May 2025). The northern boundary of the concession is located approxi- mately 5,5 km south of AGM’s processing plant on the NE-SWAsankrangwa structural corridor. The under-explored Asankrangwa Gold Belt is about 7 km wide and over 50 km long. The area is highly prospective with multiple geochemical anomalies aligning with the structures interpreted from the airborne VTEM and magnetic surveys completed by Asanko in 2015. Asanko holds the largest land package on this belt and it hosts all of the company’s 5,1 million ounces of reserves. Three significant initial target areas along the main structural trend, Miradani, Central and Tontokrom, have been identified. A phased drilling campaign is expected to com- mence in Q4 2017, with a view to completing a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate in H2 2018. Historical trench and soil geochemistry data, along with recent mechanised artisanal mine workings, indicate that each target area consists of multiple parallel mineralised zones, individually ranging between 3 m and 37 m in width. Individual 1,5 m trench samples have assayed up to 47,3 g/t. “The Miradani project is a very exciting exploration project with huge potential to increase our resource base and contribute to our future growth,” says Asanko’s President and CEO, Peter Breese. “Located next to our current operation and within trucking dis- tance, the Miradani project comes with the advantage of being on an existing mining lease, which means that we will be able to accelerate the development timeline from resource delineation to production. “Historic trenching indicates there are at least three main zones of mineralisation across the project area and the extensive arti- sanal workings confirm gold is present. We have identified three drill ready targets which we will start to drill in the coming quarter and we look forward to updating the market fur- ther during H1 2018.” The Asanko Gold Mine is a substantial operation which is expected to produce 205 000 to 225 000 ounces in 2017 at an AISC of US$920 to US$960/oz. 

The SAG mill at Fekola. Mill construction was completed more than three months ahead of schedule (photo: B2Gold).

Approximately 75 % of the drilling has focused on exploration drilling with the remainder on infill drilling. Based on the successful results to date, the Fekola mine and regional exploration budgets for 2017 have been increased by US$3,8 million to US$15,4 million. The resource identified to date from drilling below and to the north of the Fekola reserve boundary combined with the near-pit portion of the Kiwi zone (to the north) could add 900 000 ounces (two thirds in the indicated category) and is being further drilled to potentially move resources from the inferred category into the measured and indicated categories. Drilling further to the north of the reserve pit boundary has identified addi- tional gold mineralisation near surface and in some deeper holes. This indicates the potential to increase the gold resources and ultimately expand the planned Fekola reserves further to the north. Deeper below the Kiwi zone is the down-plunge extension of the main Fekola ore body. Drilling in this zone (Fekola Deeps) has intercepted Fekola-type gold grades over large intervals. If the on- going drilling between the near surface Kiwi zone and Fekola Deeps continues to encounter good grade goldmineralisation, there is the potential for the Fekola pit to ultimately become much larger to exploit both the Kiwi zone and a portion of Fekola Deeps by open pit. The Fekola Deeps zone remains open further to the north further down dip and has the potential to be exploited by underground mining. 

allow for future expansion of the mill throughput from 4 Mt/a to 5 Mt/a for an additional expenditure of approximately US$18 million. Due to the success of the Fekola mine construction and further exploration suc- cess at Fekola, B2Gold decided to expedite the expansion and complete it during the construction phase. The Fekola project remains on budget. Total cumulative forecast construction costs for the project (from inception to completion) include pre-construction sunk costs of approximately US$41 mil- lion, feasibility study construction costs of US$462 million and US$18 million additional costs for the mill expansion to 5 Mt/a. Additionally, another US$20 million is expected to be spent on relocating the village of Fadougou. In 2018, the Fekola mine is now pro- jected to produce between 400 000 and 410 000 ounces of gold at an operating cost of approximately US$354 and an AISC of US$609 per ounce of gold. Gold production over the 10-year Life of Mine is expected to average 345 000 ounces a year (with 400 000 ounces a year being produced in years 1 to 3). B2Gold’s exploration team believes the expansive Fekola property has the potential to host additional large Fekola- style gold deposits. Surface exploration, regional drilling and geophysics to date have identified numerous targets. The company has drilled approximately 2 800 aircore, reverse circulation and dia- mond drill holes totalling 180 000 m.

October 2017  MODERN MINING  5

MINING News

Wet commissioning underway at Houndé

months’ worth of ore feed already stock- piled on the ROM and the transition of the experienced Agbaou processing team to Houndé. This confidence has allowed us to continue to aggressively advance Endeavour’s high-quality project pipeline with a portion of the Houndé construction team already transitioning to the Ity CIL project (see page 8) and the launch of the Kalana updated feasibility study.” Keymilestones achieved to date include 6,3 million man-hours worked without a lost time injury. Open-pit mining activities at the main Vindaloo open pit commenced in late December 2016 with over 8 Mt moved to date. A total of 515 kt at 2,8 g/t containing 46 koz has already been mined and stock- piled on the ROM pad, representing nearly three months of feed. Mining to date sug- gests positive grade reconciliation against the resource model, says Endeavour. The General Manager of Endeavour’s Agbaou mine and the majority of its pro- cessing team, who successfully ramped-up the mill in 2014, have been transferred to Houndé to de-risk its start-up as the plants are of similar design. The construction of the fuel farm, the 90 kV overhead power line and the 26 MW backup power station have been com- pleted, with power having been drawn down from the national grid. The construction of the water har- vest dam decant tower is complete, with water already being pumped to the water storage dam. Current dam volume is approximately 2 million m 3 , with the water harvesting still feeding the water storage dam. The TSF Cell 1 construction is com- plete and operational and the TSF Cell 2 construction and ROM pad extension are underway. Cell 2 was not scheduled until year 2 of operations but has now been brought forward. Once in production, Houndé will become Endeavour’s flagship low-cost mine, ranking amongst West Africa’s top tier cash generatingmines, with an average annual production of 190 000 ounces at an All-In Sustaining Cost (AISC) of US$709/ oz over an initial 10-year mine life based on reserves. In its first four years, the aver- age annual production is expected to be 235 000 ounces at an AISC of US$610/oz. 

Aerial view of the Houndé plant (photo: Endeavour Mining).

TSX-listed Endeavour Mining Corporation reports that excellent progress continues to be made at its Houndé gold project in Burkina Faso, as wet commissioning has commenced and the first ore has been introduced to the process plant milling cir- cuit in preparation for production. The first gold pour is expected ahead of schedule in the fourth quarter. The project – on which construction began in April last year – is an open-pit mine with a 3,0 Mt/a gravity circuit/CIL plant. The initial capital cost is estimated at

US$328 million, inclusive of US$46 million for the owner-mining fleet. Comme n t s J e r emy L a n g f o r d , Endeavour’s COO: “We are very proud of the progress made in recent months in spite of the challenges presented by exceptionally heavy rainfall this past wet- season. Construction remains on budget and ahead of schedule as we rapidly approach the first gold pour without a lost time injury. “Moreover, we believe that we have sig- nificantly de-risked its start-up with three “The P5M volumetric upgrades are in the final stages of commissioning, with levels in excess of 13 500 tonnes per day of hard rock being processed through the mill. This is a significant achievement as hard rock currently makes up 93 % of our mill feed blend whilst we are waiting for a consistent supply of oxide ore, which will come from the Akwasiso and Dynamite Hill satellite pits. In spite of having encountered three mill motor outages in the quarter, the positive results from the mining interven- tions as well as the plant’s performance mean we are tracking our revised 2017 production guidance.” 

Interventions at Asanko Gold Mine yielding results Asanko Gold Inc has provided an opera- tional update on the Asanko Gold Mine (AGM), located in Ghana, West Africa.

“The mining interventions we put in place in July at Nkran are starting to yield very encouraging results and the blast movement technology is making a signifi- cant contribution to the management of ore losses and dilution, as evidenced by the positive variances we are seeing in grade and ounces,” says Peter Breese, President and CEO of Asanko.“The continued positive resource and reserve reconciliations clearly confirm the Life of Mine plan with respect to our future expansions.

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MINING News

Roxgold Inc, the TSX-listed company which owns and operates the Yaramoko under- ground gold mine in Burkina Faso, has announced an increase to its 2017 full year gold production guidance to 115 000 – 125 000 ounces compared to the previously announced range of 105 000 – 115 000 ounces. The 2017 full year guidance for cash operating cost and All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC) remains unchanged between US$445 and US$490 per ounce and US$740 and US$790 per ounce of gold respectively. “Operations have been performing extremely well at Yaramoko’s 55 Zone where mining rates and head grades have been higher than anticipated.  As a Roxgold upgrades its production guidance result, we are very pleased to announce an increase in our production guidance range for the year while maintaining our cost guidance. At the end of August we had produced over 81 500 ounces of gold, or over 70 % of the lower end of our revised guidance range of 115 000 to 125 000 ounces for the year,” stated John Dorward, President and CEO of Roxgold. The company continues to progress the Bagassi South feasibility study which is on track and expected to be released in the fourth quarter. During the sec- ond quarter, Roxgold completed an infill and extensional drilling programme at Bagassi South, located 1,8 km south of the

55 Zone, which resulted in a significant grade increase of approximately 37 % in the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). The updated MRE will be incorporated into the Bagassi South feasibility study. It features an indicated mineral resource of approximately 352 000 tonnes at 16,6 g/t Au for 188 000 ounces of gold and an inferred mineral resource of approximately 130 000 tonnes at 16,6 g/t Au for 69 000 ounces of gold. Infill and extensional drilling at QV Prime, a second mineralised structure at Bagassi South currently outside the scope of the feasibility study, is ongoing with two diamond drill rigs. 

The Yaramoko mine (seen here) produced its first gold in May 2016 (photo: Roxgold).

October 2017  MODERN MINING  7

MINING News

Endeavour gives the go-ahead for Ity CIL project

The Ity CIL Project Optimisation Study was managed by Endeavour’s in-house development team and independently prepared by Lycopodium Minerals with the support of six globally recognised engineering firms. The process plant design has been simplified and optimised to maximise the replication of the Houndé design, where applicable, to capture working capital inventory synergies. An optimised site layout allows the current heap leach operation to run inde- pendently of the CIL project. As such, the construction of the CIL project is not expected to impact the heap leach operation. The updated mineral reserve estimates were undertaken by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants. Compared to the 2016 Feasibility Study reserves, a total of 1,0 Moz has been added. A number of schedules were completed to test the impact of limiting stockpile size and it was found that there was limited benefit to allowing for large stockpiles. As such, the mining sequence and stock- pile management have improved in the Optimised Study compared to the Feasibility Study. Whereas previously the mining period was nine years followed by the processing of stockpiled low-grade ore for another five years, the current mine plan is based on 12 years of mining followed by the processing of stockpiled low-grade ore for another two years. A combination of strategic pit staging and stockpiling allows gold production to be brought forward, with about 1,2 Moz mined in the first five years from commis- sioning and 1,5 Moz in the last 10 years. The overall grade profile declines gradu- ally over the life of mine as higher-grade deposits such as Bakatouo, Daapleu and Mont Ity/Flat are mined upfront. The mine planning, resource and cost estimation for the Feasibility Study was based on an owner-operated mining operation using 90-tonne haul trucks and a maximum mining movement of 16 Mt per year with a vertical advance of approxi- mately 40 m per year. The company sees these figures as conservative in nature due to the annual rainfall at the Ity project. Mining is scheduled to commence three months before the start of the processing

Site layout of the Ity CIL project in Côte d’Ivoire.

The board of TSX-listed Endeavour Mining Corporation has approved the construc- tion decision for the company’s Ity CIL project at its mine in Côte d’Ivoire fol- lowing the robust results obtained from its Optimisation Study. The project has a US$412 million initial capex. Endeavour operates several mines acrossWest Africa in Côte d’Ivoire (Agbaou and Ity), Burkina Faso (Karma) and Mali (Tabakoto). A fifth mine, Nzema in Ghana, is regarded as non-core and – at the time of writing – was in the process of being sold to BCM International. Endeavour is also developing the Houndé project in Burkina Faso, now at a very advanced stage (see page 6 of this issue). The Ity CIL Project Feasibility and Optimisation studies were conducted to analyse the economic viability of construct- ing a straightforward gravity circuit/CIL plant as an alternate processing route to the current heap leach process. Following the publication of the November 2016 Feasibility Study (FS), the Optimisation Study (OS) was prepared to better capture the value created from the recent explora- tion success recorded at Ity. Sébastien de Montessus, Endeavour’s President and CEO, said the study clearly

positioned Ity as the company’s next flag- ship asset with robust project economics, a strong long-life production profile, and significant exploration upside. “Its average annual production in the first five years of 235 koz with AISC below US$500/oz and an after-tax IRR of +20 % even at a low gold price of US$1 000 per ounce are proof of the compelling eco- nomics of the project. “With the upcoming first gold pour at Houndé and Ity CIL construction expected to be completed within 20-months, we remain on track to achieve our strategic milestones of becoming a +800 000 ounce per year gold producer with group AISC below US$800 per ounce and mine lives above 10 years by 2019.” Jeremy Langford, COO, added: “We have optimised the Ity CIL project by max- imising the construction and operational synergies between Agbaou, Houndé and Ity, and by leveraging the same designs, components, equipment and spare parts where possible from one project to the other, along with incorporating our extensive construction expertise. The con- struction team is excited to transition from Houndé to Ity and to continue to build on its construction track-record.”

8  MODERN MINING  October 2017

MINING News

has increased from 83 % in the Feasibility Study to 86 % in the Optimised Study due to the addition of high-recovery Bakatouo oxide and fresh ore, Mont Ity ore and better recovery on Daapleu sulphides fol- lowing additional testwork. Capital costs include the construction of a 58 km, 91 kV overhead power line, which connects to the national grid at Danane and terminates with a substation at Ity which will be owned by Côte d’Ivoire Energie (CIE). A full 26 MW full high-speed diesel back-up power station provides 100 % redundancy. The schedule anticipates the project being completed within 20 months from EPCM award.  S t ephan The r on , CEO o f AGG , commented: “ This transaction with Hummingbird is significant for AGG as it validates the intrinsic value of the Kobada gold project and fast tracks the planned development programme.  Hummingbird provides us the financial capacity to develop the Kobada gold project and we are also gaining a partner with an operational presence in Mali. Kobada provides Hummingbird the ability to fur- ther increase production output at their Yanfolila mine. The partnership is a win- win for both groups. We look forward to working with the Hummingbird team on this transaction.”  significantly improve the production pro- file of Yanfolila and materially improve the mine’s NPV.”

copper Daapleu ore into the plant process schedule until depletion of Bakatouo. The CIL circuit comprises eight CIL tanks (up from six in the FS) containing carbon for gold and silver adsorption with oxygen sparged from two 25-tonne PSA oxygen plants and an 18-tonne split Anglo (AARL) elution circuit. Electrowinning and induc- tion furnace smelting complete the gold doré production process. A cyanide detoxification and arsenic removal circuit is included in the process facility design for treatment of process residue before discharge to the fully lined 57 Mt Tailings Storage Facility (TSF), located adjacent to the processing facility. The overall life of mine recovery rate from Kobada,” said Dan Betts, CEO of Hummingbird. “This high-grade concen- trate would have a material increase to our annual production rates and could add up to an additional 50 000 oz per annum to our existing average life of mine produc- tion of 107 000 oz.  “The Yanfolila gold mine currently has a 7,5-year mine life based on reserves and we have over 1 Moz gold in resources that we will look to convert to reserves and extend this mine life once in production. This deal with AGG gives us a path to 150 000 oz pro- duction per year within three years from now combined with the organic extension of mine life from existing resources extend- ing it well beyond 10 years. This could

plant to pre-strip the pits and stockpile ore. The mining fleet contract has been awarded to Komatsu to benefit from syn- ergies relating to minimising spare parts inventory and maintenance costs, as both Houndé and Karma have similar fleets. Following updated resource and reserve estimates, the key change to the design basis is an increase in throughput from 3 Mt/a feed to 4 Mt/a feed based on a blend of primary and oxide ore. The process route comprises conventional pri- mary crushing followed by a SAG and ball milling circuit (SABC) with recycle pebble crusher, a gravity circuit and a conven- tional CIL plant. Soluble copper from the Bakatouo asset is blended with the low

Hummingbird looks to earn in on Kobada AIM-quoted Hummingbird Resources has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) regarding a potential earn-in to a 50 % interest in the Kobada gold project in Mali owned by African Gold Group Inc (AGG) and ini- tial investment into AGG. Kobada has a 2,2 Moz measured, indicated and inferred gold resource (including 511 koz of reserves).

Hummingbird is developing the Yanfolila mine in Mali. It is now in the com- missioning phase with gold production anticipated before year end. “Based on the due diligence we have completed to date, we believe we will be able to truck a high-grade concen- trate to the Yanfolila processing plant

October 2017  MODERN MINING  9

MINING News

T3 copper project makes “excellent progress”

and MO-G-80D is well outside the mineral resource announced in August this year. Assay results are required to deter- mine the widths and grades of the visible copper sulphides reported in preliminary geological logging. Mineralisation is dominated by finely disseminated chalcocite with localised veins containing visible chalcocite and bornite, including an unusual mottled vein occurrence of strong chal- cocite/bornite mineralisation within a sandstone unit. Importantly, these wide zones of visible sulphides occur down dip from narrow intersections of copper and lead/ zinc mineralisation intersected at shallow depth in previous drilling. MOD’s Managing Director, Julian Hanna, said the recent drill holes open significant potential for further resource extensions along strike and below the planned pit. The first hole to test the eastern IP anomaly north of T3 (MO-3R-08D) was completed at 643,9 m depth. MO-3R‑08D intersected vein-hosted chalcopyrite between approximately 590 m and 595 m down hole depth and the source of the IP anomaly has not yet been explained. The geology in the area of MO-3R-08D appears to have steepened along an interpreted major structure and further drilling is planned to test whether the target sequence is offset by sampling will generate material essential to further optimise our process flowsheet and recoveries as well as to initiate grade control programmes in anticipation of production. We also plan to use part of the bulk sample to provide a consistent feed to our in-coun- try pilot lithium chemical facility that is making considerable progress in producing battery grade lithium products.” Virimai Mining was contracted to carry out blasthole drilling and blasting focused on the western end of the old Arcadia pit where the Main Pegmatite is exposed. In order to generate the required 20 tonnes of material, three 1,2 m wide benches are being developed to fully expose the 7‑m vertical thickness of the Main Pegmatite.

this structure, north of MO-3R-08D. MOD believes this structure may be associated with a deeper 10 km long canoe-shaped EM conductive anomaly which extends either side of T3. Drilling has been stepped up with two diamond drill rigs testing east and west along strike from the current resource, three drill rigs infilling the current resource and two RC drill rigs drilling diamond hole pre-collars and water bores to test the potential for a sustainable supply for plant processing water. Several holes in the current programme have intersected very encouraging vein- hosted mineralisation down dip from the planned pit. Drilling is planned to focus on this area as soon as the resource infill drill- ing is completed. Regarding the PFS, MOD says that min- ing and process engineering studies have commenced using a revised ore process- ing rate of 2,5 Mt/a, a 25 % increase on the Scoping Study production target. This upgrade is in response to the growth in the T3 mineral resource estimate, the expected increase in the mineable inventory and the strength in the copper price since the Scoping Study was announced. The process plant will be designed to allow for a possible future expansion up to 4,0 Mt/a. This expansion capacity gives optionality in the event that there are further upgrades to the T3 resource and possible supplementary ore supply from the nearby T1 project.  From this, two 4-tonne bulkmetallurgical test samples will be sent to Johannesburg andWestern Australia for further metallurgi- cal testing aimed at optimising the process flowsheet and to ultimately improve recov- eries. The remaining 12 tonnes will be stockpiled and used to feed the company’s pilot lithium chemical facility at a rate of 2 tonnes per month over the next six months. The first production samples are being generated as part of this exercise, both from the broken Main Pegmatite stockpile and the clean pit faces using a 1 m x 1 m resolution grid. In addition to providing the company with check grades to reconcile against the results from the test work, the technical team is developing grade-control procedures that will be essential during full scale production. 

ASX-listed MOD Resources has announced excellent progress on the resource exten- sion drilling programme and open-pit pre-feasibility study (PFS) at the T3 copper project in Botswana’s Kalahari Copperbelt. The current phase of drilling at T3 com- menced on 7 August 2017. The company intersected wide zones (>50 m estimated true width) of visible copper with multiple intervals of visible disseminated and local vein-hosted cop- per sulphides in four recent diamond core drill holes at the western and eastern limits of drilling at T3. The visible mineralisation in holes MO-G-74D, MO-G-76D, MO-G-79D Disseminated ore from the T3 copper project (photo: MOD Resources).

Bulk sampling starts at Arcadia lithium project ASX-listed Prospect Resources has announced the commencement of its bulk sampling and pre-development grade control programmes at its Arcadia lithium project, 35 km east of Harare in Zimbabwe. Targeting the Main Pegmatite (exposed in the historical Arcadia pit), Prospect intends to generate approximately 20 tonnes of pegmatite to provide material for ongoing metallurgical optimisation stud- ies as well as feed for the company’s newly established pilot lithium chemical facility. Commenting on the initiation of the bulk sampling exercise, Hugh Warner, Prospect’s Chairman, said: “This first blast at Arcadia marks a milestone for the Arcadia project and its team. Importantly, the bulk

10  MODERN MINING  October 2017

MINING News

Botswana Diamonds updates on Thorny River AIM-quoted Botswana Diamonds has provided an update on the Thorny River (previously Zebediela) project, which is located in Limpopo Province some 2 km east of the Marsfontein pipe, which was mined between 1998 and 2000. It reports the detailed ground geophysics study has been completed on the kimberlite dyke system. The planned delineation drilling on the Frischgewaagt and Doornriver farms is also largely completed. Geophysics discovered a significant anomaly on an adjacent farm, Hartbeesfontein, which Botswana Diamonds believes could be a kimberlite blow/pipe. The company is drill- ing eight holes on this new anomaly. The proposed Large Diameter Drilling (LDD) pro- gramme is being replaced by a bulk sample with the aim of taking total diamond recovery on site up to 500 carats. This will enable greater accuracy in the grade and diamond value estimation. This work pro- gramme is targeting a maiden Inferred resource by the end of the year.  A drill site at the Thorny River project (photo: Botswana Diamonds).

MINING News

Mako in Senegal to pour its first gold in early 2018 90 % of staff at the project are Senegalese nationals,” he says.

Toro Gold, a Guernsey-registered private gold exploration and development com- pany, reports excellent progress on the development of its Mako gold mine in eastern Senegal. It says the project is cur- rently on schedule and budget to deliver first gold during Q1 2018. Following the award of a 15-year Mining Concession to Toro’s 90 %-owned Petowal Mining Company SARL (PMC) by the Government of Senegal in July 2016, construction commenced in August 2016 on a planned 18-month develop- ment schedule with forecast capital costs of US$158 million to steady state production. According to Martin Horgan, Toro’s CEO, the working partnership between Toro’s owner’s team and a group of experienced contractors has enabled the company to maintain both schedule and budget.“With over 1 100 people currently working at site, emphasis has remained on the preferential use of local and national staff in addition to the provision of training opportunities – I am delighted to report that approximately

have been retained: LycopodiumMinerals; Eiffage Senegal; SFTP SA;TTI; DLM Senegal; Knight Piésold Consulting; SGS Minerals; Vivo Energy; AMS Senegal (AMSS); Power Solutions Africa; and ATS. While most of these groups have direct experience of construction and opera- tions in Senegal, AMSS is a newly formed entity which ranks as Senegal’s first fully integrated, international contract mining services company. All key earthworks and civils/con- crete for the plant site were completed on schedule in early 2017 which permit- ted the start of installation works before the onset of the wet season in Senegal in June/July. All six CIL tanks, top of tank steel and pipe racks have been erected which allowed piping andmechanical installation works to start in July. The mill concrete foundation was poured early giving access to the mill installation activities. SAG mill compo- nents have been delivered to site and installation of the shell is well advanced. The primary crusher facility is on schedule

“We now look forward to the critical phase of construction completion and the handover to operational staff via the commissioning period – with the opera- tional team substantially recruited at this time, the company is well prepared for this phase.” Based on the 2015 Definitive Feasi­ bility Study and the subsequent 2016 Optimisation Study, the project envis- ages the development of a 1 Moz JORC-compliant reserve over an initial eight-year life. Mining will take place in a single open pit with the ore being treated in an industry standard 1,8 Mt/a CIL pro- cessing facility to extract the gold. In selecting the contractors to com- plete both construction and operational aspects of the project, Toro Gold says it has sought to engage internationally repu- table groups with successful track records in the development and operation of gold projects in Africa. Utilising a competitive tendering approach, the following groups

CIL tanks and tops at Mako in August this year (photo: Toro Gold).

12  MODERN MINING  October 2017

MINING News

the mine life to approximately 10 years, reduced pre-production capital costs and significantly reduced the important C3 cash costs of tin production to US$13 296/tonne of tin in concentrate.  During 2016, in response to weak com- modity pricing, the company revised the scale and scope of Achmmach, treating up to 750 000 tonnes per year tin ore.  The company released a DFS into a Small Start Option (SSO), which produced further sub- stantial reduction in project capital cost to US$61,7 million and a C3 operating cost of US$13 811/t tin in concentrate, based on an ore reserve of 6,6 Mt at 0,85 % Sn. In June 2017, Kasbah announced the results of an independent technical review of the SSO by AMC and work has now commenced on implementing these rec- ommendations, the results of which will be released later this year.  production activities at Mako. Pre-strip activities have begun and substantial progress has been made developing the haul roads and ROM pad. Access has been established from the ROM pad to the Stage 1, 2 and 3 mining pits. In order to ensure an integrated approach to operational readiness with the completion of construction activities, Toro Gold says it moved early to retain the services of a highly experienced General Manager (GM) for the operational phase. In early 2017 it retained the services of Adrian De Freitas in the role of GM for PMC. De Freitas is a mining engineer with over 35 years of experience in the industry. Prior to joining Toro Gold, he was General Manager of theYouga open pit and CIL gold mine in Burkina Faso, Endeavour Mining Corporation’s first operating mine. 

for commissioning this month (October). All earthworks for the TMF were com- pleted in May with installation of the plastic liner completed in June. After independent inspection and sign off by Knight Piésold, the facility was further inspected and approved for operations by the Department of Environment in August 2017. The RawWater Dam (RWD) was com- pleted in June with the associated river abstraction point commissioned shortly thereafter in early July. The rainy season commenced in July and the Gambia River flow rates have increased substantially from their annual lows at the end of May. Abstraction of water started in August and by mid- September the RWD was approximately 40 % full and on schedule to support commissioning and the full operations

he had responsibility for successfully financing and developing the Hemerdon tungsten and tin project in the UK. Clark holds a Mining Engineering degree (BSc Hons) from the Royal School of Mines, London, UK and a Graduate Diploma from the Securities Institute of Australia. The Achmmach project is approximately 140 km south-east of the Moroccan capital of Rabat and 40 km SSW of Meknes. In March 2015 Kasbah announced a JORC reserve for Achmmach of 9,2 Mt at 0,77 % Sn (for approximately 71 300 t of contained tin) and completed an Enhanced Definitive Feasibility Study (EDFS) that integrated the high grade Western Zone (WZ) target (from the largely untested Sidi Addi Trend) into the full 1 Mt/a Meknes mine design. Integrating the WZ extended schedule through the coming dry season later in 2017. Preparation of the installation of the 14 MW power station continues to make good progress with component deliveries and site construction advancing slightly ahead of schedule. After a competitive tender process in 2016, African Mining Services Senegal (AMSS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ausdrill Pty Ltd, was awarded the contract for mining operations at the project. The Mine Services Contract (MSC) includes drill and blast, load and haul of ore and waste as well as ancillary support services includ- ing dewatering, dust suppression and road maintenance within the pit area. AMSS commenced mobilisation to site during Q2 2016 and currently has all equipment required to commence pre-

Kasbah Resources appoints new Chief Executive ASX-listed Kasbah Resources reports that Russell Clark has been appointed the company’s new CEO. It says this addition to the company’s senior leadership is in line with Kasbah’s strategy of bringing the Achmmach tin project in Morocco into pro- duction and supports Kasbah’s transition from a feasibility study phase to the fund- ing, construction and ultimately production phases of the project.

Clark is a highly experienced senior resource sector executive and has more than 38 years’ experience in technical roles, project development, general manage- ment and executive positions at projects in the UK, USA, Africa, South America, Papua New Guinea and Australia. He was most recently Managing Director of Wolf Minerals (from 2013 to 2017) where

October 2017  MODERN MINING  13

MINING News

Positive PFS completed on Nigeria’s Segilola gold project

underground mining operations.” The mine is to be developed in three stages, incorporating two interim stage pits. Mining operations will be carried out using conventional drill-and-blast and load-and-haul mining methods with 3,5 Mt of ore and 62,0 Mt of waste being extracted over a period of seven years A detailed mining schedule has been developed that requires minimal pre- stripping prior to plant commissioning. Productionwill initially commence from the high grade northern pit, which outcrops at surface and along with the Stage 2 pit – which commences after four months – will return an average head grade of approxi- mately 7,0 g/t for the first 15 months of operation. Stage 3 commences in month 32 with a cut back of the southern wall of the Stage 2 pit to the final pit design. The company intends to engage an experienced mining contractor for the drill, blast, load and haul operations. There are a number of well-established regional and international mining contracting companies in West Africa. For the purposes of the PFS, the company obtained quotes from two contractors with relevant and current oper- ating experience and benchmarked these quotes with other regional contractors. ROM ore will be delivered from the mine to the processing plant, which con- sists of a conventional crushing circuit and a single stage grinding circuit to achieve a target grind size P80 of 106 microns. The plant will operate on a 365 day/year, 24 hour/day operating cycle with a design plant availability of 91,3 % for a nominal ore throughput of 62,5 t/h. Life of mine average gold recovery is estimated to be 96 % resulting in life of

Segilola gold project – final mine design.

Thor Explorations, listed on the TSX-V, has announce positive results for its indepen- dent Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) and maiden probable mineral reserve for its 100 %-owned Segilola gold project in Nigeria. The project is located in Osun State in south-western Nigeria approximately 120 km from Lagos. At Segilola, goldminer- alisation extends from surface to a depth of up to 300 m down dip over a strike length of 2 km. The project area is served by good infrastructure that includes a sealed road to the proposed development site. Segilola will comprise an open-pit mine served by a new 500 000 t/a processing plant, which consists of a conventional crushing circuit, single stage grinding, CIL, elution, electrowinning and smelting topro- duce gold doré. The PFS envisions a project with a 17-month construction period and a seven-year mine life. The mine will produce an average of 81 000 oz/a in years 1 to 3 and 47 000 oz/a in years 4 to 7. Pre-production

capex is estimated at US$71,4 million. “The Segilola project benefits from many strong characteristics, including its high-grade nature together with excellent metallurgy and attractive government fis- cal incentives,” comments Segun Lawson, President and CEO of Thor. “This results in robust cashflows from commencement of operations and relatively low capital intensity. We are pleased with the results outlined in the Preliminary Feasibility Study which validate our belief in the potential of the project. “We believe scope exists to improve the project economics as we continue to opti- mise and de-risk the project through the Definitive Feasibility Study phase, which we aim to complete in H1 2018 and to then progress directly to project development. The project has significant exploration upside that can potentially both add to our open-pit production and extend the life of mine as we continue to explore and assess the potential for a transition to

14  MODERN MINING  October 2017

MINING News

500 000 tonnes of tailings per annum. The tailings will be pumped as a slurry to a tailings storage facility (TSF). The TSF will comprise single circular storage with an area of 24,6 ha. The TSF will be equipped with a centrally located decant tower which will enable water released from the tailings, and collected rainwater, to be returned to the plant for re-use.

mine production of 430 100 ounces from the currently stated probable reserves. Electrical power will be generated on site by diesel-powered generators. Three 1,6 MW generating sets will be installed and operated on a two duty, one standby basis. The treatment of the ore will result in the production of approximately

Raw water will be supplied from a newly constructed water storage dam on a local creek. The water storage damwill be equipped with a spillway capable of allow- ing the excess water to be discharged to the river downstream of the dam. The spill- way is likely to be in use for a large part of the year as the run of river flow will exceed the plant requirements. 

Metallon restructures its business Metallon, the gold mining, development and exploration company with producing assets in Zimbabwe, has announced a restructuring of its business as part of a strategy to increase efficiencies and meet growth targets. As part of this restructuring exercise, each of Metallon’s oper- ating mines will now operate as separate entities. The company believes that by making the mines standalone operations the over- all efficiency at each operation will be increased. Metallon runs four mines, namely How, Mazowe, Redwing and Shamva. Each of thesemines is nowoperating under separately reg- istered companies, namely Bulawayo Mining Company, Goldfields of Mazowe, King’s Daughter Mining Company and Goldfields of Shamva, respectively. The companies will have their own boards and management that will now assume all responsibilities over operations and sup- pliers, thereby reducing bureaucracy and bringing renewed focus across the Group. New managing directors have been appointed to run the operations. Ken Mekani, CEO of Metallon, commented: “As the country’s leading gold producer, Metallon has a duty to invest in production and help meet national gold output targets. Metallon has an ambi- tious plan to increase gold production. As part of that plan, we had a thorough evaluation of our structure and operations. One of our key findings was that in order for us to efficiently exploit our assets in the future, we require each mine to focus clearly on managing its own operations.

“Reorganising the Group will allow each operation to manage and exploit the vast potential of our assets more efficiently. By empowering each mine, we are making the company stronger as a whole.” Metallon is Zimbabwe’s biggest gold producer. How, near Bulawayo, is the flagship mining operation and produces over 55 % of production. The Shamva and Mazowe mines, both located near Harare, produce approximately 22 % and 13 % respectively while Redwing, near Mutare, is currently ramping up production. Metallon’s gold production in 2016 was 94 212 ounces and the bud- get for 2017 is 115 000 ounces.  Howmine near Bulawayo in Zimbabwe is an underground operation that ranks as Metallon’s flagship. The mine started up in the 1940s and has pro- duced over 1,1 million ounces of gold to date (photo: Metallon).