Modern Mining July 2019

MINING News

North Mara achieves record monthly production

In its Q2-2019 Production Results, LSE- listed Acacia Mining, which operates three mines in north-west Tanzania, reports that gold production for the quarter was 19 % higher than the prior year period, mainly due to 39 % higher production at North Mara, offset by expected reductions in production at Buzwagi and Bulyanhulu. Gold sold during the quarter amounted to 143 325 ounces. This was 10 % below production due to the timing of gold shipments from North Mara which were weighted towards the end of June. “I am pleased to announce that Acacia achieved a 51 % increase in production in the second quarter of 2019 compared to Q1-2019, following the successful imple- mentation of our revised mining plan at North Mara for both the underground and open-pit mines which saw production at the mine increase by 80 % over the period,” said Peter Geleta, Acacia’s Interim Chief Executive Officer. “Overall, we achieved gold production of 158 774 ounces in Q2-2019 with a par- ticularly strong quarter from North Mara, which set a monthly production record of 47 849 ounces for the month of June. We remain confident of achieving production within our guidance of 500 000 to 550 000 ounces for the year. I would like to thank our people who have made this possible, delivering a strong second quarter across all three of our mines despite the contin- ued challenging operating environment.” At North Mara, after successfully addressing the unanticipated produc- tion issues experienced in Q1-2019, gold production for Q2-2019 rose sharply to 119 113 ounces, 39 % higher than the prior year of 85 920 ounces. This improvement was driven by the mining of higher grade areas at the Gokona underground mine as well as increased volumes at higher grades from the Nyambirama open-pit mine, combined with a 4,0 % improvement in throughput and a 1,7 % improvement in plant recovery rates. North Mara achieved a head grade of 5,4 g/t during the second quarter of this year compared to 4,1 g/t in Q2-2018 and 3,0 g/t in Q1-2019. Notably Q2-2019 production was 80 % above Q1-2019 pro- duction of 66 324 ounces, with Q1-2019 having been negatively impacted by the fall of ground at the Gokona underground

The North Mara mine is a combined open-pit and underground operation (photo: Acacia).

mine being placed on reduced operations in late 2017. Acacia, which is in a long-running dis- pute with the Tanzanian government over tax payments and other issues, has Barrick Gold as its majority shareholder. In May this year, it received an indicative proposal from Barrick regarding a possible offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company not already owned or controlled by Barrick. The company recently announced a mid-year mineral reserve and mineral resource update for its Gokona mine at North Mara which adds to the long-term potential of this underground operation. Mineral reserves as at end May 2019 increased by 13 % in comparison to year- end 2018 from 1,12 Moz of gold at 5,6 g/t to 1,26 Moz of gold at 5,5 g/t. This was pri- marily driven by the successful additional drilling on the East and West extension at Gokona in Q4-2018 and Q1-2019, offset by mining depletion and a more conservative change in assumptions for crown pillar stope recovery. Measured and indicated mineral resources increased by 63 % from 75 koz of gold at 3,3  g/t to 122 koz of gold at 3,6 g/t. Inferred mineral resources increased by 65 % from 515 koz of gold at 6,5 g/t to 849 koz of gold at 5,4 g/t following the increase in drill density and confidence levels in the deeper areas of the deposit. 

mine and an excavator breakdown in the Nyambirama open pit. During the quarter, the Gokona underground mine commenced ore development in the high grade GB2 area, which is the faulted offset continuation of the high-grade Golden Banana zone that has been mined since 2015. Ounces from ore development and the first stope were extracted in June, which produced approximately 20 000 ounces of contained gold at a grade of 27,5 g/t. Further stop- ing in GB2 is scheduled in Q3-2019 and is expected to support the current higher production volumes. Buzwagi gold production of 30 283 ounces for the quarter, although 19 % lower than the prior year of 37 415 ounces, was in line with expectations and 6 % higher than Q1-2019 production of 28 577 ounces. Bulyanhulu produced 9 377 gold ounces for the quarter which was in line with expectations, although 10 % lower than the prior year of 10 443 ounces and 6 % lower than Q1-2019 production of 9 999 ounces. Q2-2019 production was impacted by the expected lower grades recovered from the retreatment of tail- ings and the resultant lower recovery rates, partly offset by improvements in plant throughput. All production contin- ued to be produced from the retreatment of tailings as a result of the underground

July 2019  MODERN MINING  15