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July 2016
MODERN MINING
5
MINING News
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
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.
Galane pushes up gold production
at Mupane mine in Botswana
The Mupane gold mine produced 7 855 ounces in the June quarter. Part of the Mupane processing
facility is seen here (photo: Galane Gold).
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.”