Modern Mining July 2016

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July 2016MODERN MINING15
MINING News
Technical review of Orezone’s
Bomboré project completed
Orezone Gold Corporation, listed on the TSX-V, has suc-
cessfully completed a presentation and critical technical
review of its Bomboré gold project with the Burkina Faso
National Commission of Mines (NCM). The NCM reviewed
the project’s feasibility study, including an environmental
assessment and impact study, and a relocation action plan.
The company says it has now fulfilled all the conditions
set by the NCM and was advised that the NCM will issue a
favourable and binding opinion with respect to the com-
pany’s application for a commercial mining permit. This is
the last step in the permitting process before a final decision
can be made by the Council of Ministers and decreed by
the Government (at a full cabinet session) to grant a mining
permit, which is expected during the third quarter of 2016.
Orezone owns a 100 % interest in Bomboré, which it
describes as “the largest undeveloped oxide gold deposit
inWest Africa”. It is situated 85 km east of the capital city and
adjacent to an international highway.
A full Feasibility Study was completed in April 2015 for an
open-pit, combined heap leach and CIL operation without
grinding or cement agglomeration with 87 % recovery.
Orezone says that construction of the mine could be
completed as early as 2018 subject to a US$250 million full
project financing. With a production profile of 135 000 oz/a
for the first eight years, all in sustaining costs are estimated
to be US$678/oz with a 2,7 year payback and a 24 % after-
tax IRR using a US$1 250 gold price.
The project also benefits from a large underlying sul-
phide orebody that has been drilled and studied and
could be developed as part of a second phase plant expan-
sion at higher gold prices to increase production to over
200 000 oz/a for many more years. 
Canada’s B2Gold Corp has provided an
exploration update for its Fekola and Kiaka
projects in West Africa (Mali and Burkina
Faso, respectively).
Highlights of the new drill results
include 15,50 m at 8,49 g/t gold from a
diamond drill hole north of the Fekola
deposit; 26 m at 5,44 g/t gold from reverse
circulation drilling in a new zone of sap-
rolite-hosted gold mineralisation, also in
the Fekola area; and 16 m at 4,16 g/t gold,
including 6 m at 9,90 g/t gold, intersected
in a new target area during the reconnais-
sance aircore drilling programme in the
Kiaka area.
According to B2Gold, the significance
of the latest positive drill results (as well as
drill results released in January this year) at
the Fekola project is that they demonstrate
the potential for the area to host additional
zones of open-pittable gold mineralisation
Drilling enhances prospects for Fekola and Kiaka
similar to the Fekola deposit, as well as
significant zones of saprolite-hosted gold
mineralisation. In addition, deeper drilling
below the Fekola deposit returned posi-
tive results that indicate the potential for
underground mining in the future.
Based on the exploration potential and
success to date, the company is construct-
ing the Fekola mine with a +25 % design
factor. This means that the throughput
of ore at Fekola could reach up to 5 Mt/a
in the initial years of production, beyond
the optimised feasibility study’s estimated
throughput of 4 Mt/a. This increase may
only require approximately US$15 mil-
lion to US$20 million of additional capital
expenditure and could potentially increase
annual production by up to 20 % (subject
to final mine planning), surpassing ini-
tial projections of approximately 350 000
ounces of gold per year.
To date at the
Kiaka project, the
positive exploration
drill results at the new Toega prospects
near the Kiaka deposit indicate the pres-
ence of new, potentially higher-grade gold
zones. Preliminary internal studies indicate
that combining the potential higher-grade
ore from the Toega zones with ore from
the lower-grade Kiaka deposit could have
a very positive effect on the economics of
the project. An aggressive 2016 exploration
drilling programme is intended to further
explore and conduct infill drilling at the
new, higher-grade gold zones along with
metallurgical testing and base line permit-
ting work. The company’s objective is to
release an initial resource estimate on the
main Toega prospect by the end of 2016.
Based on the positive drill results
to date, B2Gold’s exploration budget
for West Africa has been increased by
US$5,5 million, from US$9,8 million to
approximately US$15 million. The 2016
exploration budget at the Fekola and
Kiaka projects is now US$11,4 million and
US$3,6 million, respectively. 