Modern Mining April 2016

MINING News

Night view of the Tharisa mine, which is located on the south-western limb of the Bushveld Complex, near Marikana (photo: Tharisa).

Tharisa achieves steady-state production levels

Tharisa, South Africa’s only PGM and chrome co-producer, reports it recorded a number of milestone achievements during the three months ended 31 March 2016 as its mining and processing reached steady state levels on an annualised basis. A continued focus on safety contrib- uted to a significant reduction in safety related stoppages in Q2 FY2016 with a lost time injury frequency rate as at 31 March 2016 of 0,3 per 200 000 hours.

second quarter of 2016. Major earthworks to be undertaken in 2016 include the tail- ings storage facility and the surface water dam. Based on current assumptions, the project remains on schedule to commence production in late 2017. Fekola will be a substantial gold pro- ducer with a planned average gold production for the first seven years of approximately 350 000 ounces per year at an average cash operating cost of US$418 per ounce and for the life of mine plan approximately 276 000 ounces per year at an average cash operating cost of US$552 per ounce. The total pre-production capital costs are estimated to be US$395 million plus US$67 million of anticipated mine fleet and power generator costs which are expected to be lease financed.  previous records,” says Tharisa CEO Phoevos Pouroulis. Tharisa’s mining operations are charac- terised by the shallow open-pit, large scale co-production of PGMs and chrome con- centrates with a consequential low cost of production. Improvements in reef mined during the quarter resulted from a continued focus on opening up access to the full mining strike length and the benefits of maintaining

Second quarter milestones included (on an annualised basis) reef mined exceed- ing the steady state required run rate of 4,8 Mt/a, mill throughput at nameplate design capacity and contained PGM pro- duction on a 6E basis meeting the steady state production level. “We are very encouraged by the mile- stones achieved during this, our second quarter. Not only have we achieved improved production, we have exceeded

Mine construction activity at Fekola builds up Canada’s B2Gold reports that early works were completed and activities ramped up in preparation for full construction of its Fekola project in Mali in the fourth quarter of 2015. Significant activities included for- mal ground-breaking ceremonies for the project with local and national leaders, clearing and topsoil removal at the tailings basin, camp and workshop construction, and earthworks and steel piling installa- tion in the mill and leach tank areas.

to design the Otjikoto project in Namibia and many of the same Lycopodium project engineers are involved in the design phase. Additionally, many of the same vendors that have provided equipment to Otjikoto have been successful in their bids on equip- ment packages for the Fekola infrastructure and plant. The 2016 construction and develop- ment budget for the Fekola project totals approximately US$233 million. In 2016, the company will continue to develop the proj- ect with work in all major areas. Excavation and compaction of the mill area will be supported by an on-site geotechnical labo- ratory and concrete will be provided by an on-site batch plant. Structural steel and tank erection is expected to begin in the

Numerous major mill packages have been issued for purchase including grinding mills, crushers, tanks, and motors. Detailed design for the Fekola plant and infrastruc- ture construction is being completed by Lycopodium Engineering (Australia). This is the same engineering group that was used

16  MODERN MINING  April 2016