Modern Mining May 2016

GOLD

a clear strategy in place to take production through to at least 2022.” Bradbury, who served as Shanta’s COO for three months before being appointed CEO, is a mining engineer (he graduated from the University of Cardiff in the UK with a BSc in Mining Engineering and also has a PhD in the same discipline) with plenty of African experi- ence under his belt. His previous executive roles have included being Senior VP for AngloGold Ashanti in Ghana – where he was responsible for surface and underground operations pro- ducing 600 000 ounces a year – and COO for Anvil Mining, operator of the Dikulushi and Kinsevere copper mines in the DRC. Explaining what attracted him to taking on the position of Shanta CEO, he says that New Luika is a high-quality, low-cost, high-cash generation asset. “The only thing it has miss- ing is a long life but we’re working on this and are confident that our on-mine and wider regional exploration in the Lupa goldfield will deliver new resources,” he says. “Shanta also, of course, has a second mine – Singida – in the wings. This is a development project with sur- face and underground mining potential with significant exploration upside.” Bradbury is based in Dar es Salaam but notes that there is now a highly experienced management team on site at New Luika, led by GM Scott Yelland. He is a graduate of the Camborne School of Mines and started his more than 30-year career in mining working in the Cornish tin mines. He subsequently worked in many parts of the world and before joining Shanta was VP Operations of Konkola Copper Mines in Zambia. Yelland’s deputy is Honest Mrema, a Tanzanian national who is a mining engineer

with 19 years’ experience in Tanzania and Mali. Reviewing New Luika’s performance during 2015, Bradbury says that as the year started, the emphasis was very much on optimising the open-pit mining operation and aligning ore production to the increased capacity of the plant complex. “Ore production had not kept up with the increased plant capacity and there was a reliance on using stockpiled material to supplement feed to the mill. In addition, the strip ratios were as high as 20 to 1 in a fall- ing gold price environment. To rectify these problems, we redesigned both our main pits – Bauhinia Creek and Luika – during the first half of the year.” Bradbury says the results came through in the second half of 2015. “The strip ratio was reduced to 9 to 1 and ore production caught up with plant capacity. Closer control of mining

Above: The milling section of the plant.

Left: Night view of the New Luika process plant. Upgrades commissioned in 2014 have increased capacity to 50 000 tonnes per month.

Long section of BC (Bauhinia Creek) and Luika looking towards the north.

May 2016  MODERN MINING  23