Modern Mining July 2016

MINING News

Galane pushes up gold production at Mupane mine in Botswana

Teranga Gold to acquire Gryphon Minerals

Teranga Gold Corporation, listed on the TSX and ASX, has entered into a ‘Scheme Implementation Agreement’which will result in its acquiring ASX-listed Gryphon Minerals. Gryphon’s key asset is the 90 %-owned Banfora gold project, a fully permitted, high grade, open-pit gold project located in Burkina Faso. Banfora currently has a measured and indicated gold mineral resource of 2,98 Moz (67,1 Mt at 1,39 g/t) and an inferred gold min- eral resource of 0,66 Moz (15,9 Mt at 1,30 g/t). In January 2013 Gryphon announced a proven and probable reserve of 1,05 Moz (16,7 Mt at 1,95 g/t) contained within four open-pit deposits as part of a Bankable Feasibility Study on a 2 Mt/a CIL operation. There is potential to add reserves at depth and along strike in each of these deposits, and through a number of exploration targets located on Gryphon’s highly prospective land package. “This is an outstanding opportunity to add another high quality gold asset to Teranga’s portfolio and to create a multi-jurisdiction gold producer with diversified production and cash flows,” says Richard Young, President and CEO of Teranga. “Out of the gate, Gryphon’s Banfora project will give us an additional one million ounces in gold reserves, with consider- able exploration potential to further increase the reserve base, which is expected to enhance our production, cost and cash flow profiles commencing as early as 2019.” Adds Steve Parsons, MD of Gryphon: “We are very pleased to be joining forces with Teranga Gold Corporation as we look to cre- ate a pre-eminent West African mid-tier gold producer. This transaction gives an immediate uplift for Gryphon shareholders and provides significant exposure to Teranga’s Sabodala goldmine in Senegal. The combined company can leverage off its strong balance sheet and mining cash flows to help bring the 3,6 Moz Banfora gold project into development and production in the near term.” Young points out that while Gryphon had originally considered a traditional CIL flowsheet, Banfora was redesigned into a heap leach operation in 2013/2014 to lower the project capital cost as the price of gold declined. “We share Gryphon’s belief that in the absence of financing constraints there is greater value today in a fully optimised CIL flowsheet, particularly when combined with an active exploration programme aimed at converting high grade resources to reserves,” he says. 

Canada’s Galane Gold reports that pro- duction from its Mupane mine near Francistown in Botswana for the three months ended June 30, 2016 was 7 855 ounces, an increase of 2 027 ounces on the previous quarter. The increase is a reflec- tion of the higher grade being fed to the operating plant with the start of mining in the main Tau orebody in April 2016. Galane Gold’s Chief Executive Officer, Nick Brodie, commented: “The second quarter of 2016 outperformed our internal expectations with mining commencing in the main orebody at Tau three months before we originally anticipated. The increase in production is a reflection of the management team’s hard work and deter- mination over the last two years to turn Mupane into a high grade underground operation. “Production at the Mupane mine for the three months ended June 30, 2016 represents our best quarterly production since the second quarter of 2014 when we completed mining at the Tholo open pit. We expect this momentum at the Mupane mine to continue into future quarters as we expose more of the Tau orebody.” Galane Gold has also announced that Wayne Hatton-Jones has been elected to its board of directors. He is currently the

Chief Operating Officer of the company. He has over 27 years’experience inmining and has held a number of senior management positions in the mining industry including with Randgold, Gold Ridge Mining, Avocet Mining and Harmony. Galane has also advised that Charles Byron, who was the company’s Chief Geologist and a director, has stepped down. Comments Galane’s Chairman, Ravi Sood: “Having worked with Wayne for the last two years, I know that he will be a positive addition to the board and will assist us in our long-term strategy to oper- ate long-life and low-cost gold mines that can produce positive returns for investors across commodity cycles. “In addition, on behalf of the board of directors and shareholders of Galane Gold, I would like to thank Charles Byron for his service as a director for the past five years. Charles has played a pivotal role in explo- ration in Botswana for almost 30 years. In fact, Charles led the team that conducted the critical exploration work that led to the discovery of the Tau orebody and, ulti- mately, the development of commercial gold mining in Botswana. We are pleased to announce that Charles has agreed to continue to work with us on exploration and other ad-hoc projects.” 

The Mupane gold mine produced 7 855 ounces in the June quarter. Part of the Mupane processing facility is seen here (photo: Galane Gold).

July 2016  MODERN MINING  5