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July 2015
MODERN MINING
27
feature
COUNTRY FOCUS –
BOTSWANA
Stockpiled ore ready to be
screened at the Tekwane
surface ore deposit.
have inhibited Galane’s ability to carry out all
the exploration it needs to do on its properties
and says the company is looking at bringing in
a joint venture partner to assist with this task.
“We’re talking to several parties on a farm-in
arrangement,” he says. “We already have a large
number of drill-ready targets, so we’re keen to
get an agreement in place sooner rather than
later. This exploration is vital if Mupane is to
have a future into the 2020s.”
Discussing Galane’s proposed acquisition
of Galaxy Gold (a company founded by well-
known mining entrepreneur Peter Skeat),
Byron says the conclusion of the deal – which
would result in Galane having an initial 78 %
stake in the Galaxy – is subject to the satisfac-
tory outcome of a very intensive due diligence
process which is currently ongoing. “The
attraction is the 1,6 million ounces of gold that
Galaxy controls in the Barberton Greenstone
Belt,” he states. “The key asset is the historic
Agnes mine, which started up in the late 1880s,
and which has seen some production in recent
years, although on a very small scale. All told,
the Galaxy assets have produced over a million
ounces of gold over more than a century of on
and off operation.
“I personally know the Barberton area well
but, even more importantly, our COO, Wayne
Hatton-Jones, has an in-depth knowledge of
Galaxy, having acted as its COO several years
back. The mining methods required would
be somewhat similar to what we’re using at
Mupane, so this is another plus. If the deal does
go through, we could probably be producing
within six months. This timescale would be
dictated by the fact Galaxy’s existing process-
ing plant – which incorporates CIL and BIOX
facilities and which has the capacity to treat
16 000 tonnes per month – would need some
refurbishment. The plant lends itself to expan-
sion through the addition of larger mills and
flotation equipment so we would probably look
at undertaking a scoping study on increasing
production in the medium term.”
Summing up, Byron says he is very positive
about the future of both Galane and the Mupane
operation. “Mupane has now produced well
over 650 000 ounces of gold since it was com-
missioned and it certainly has the potential
to produce another several hundred thousand
ounces over the next several years, provided we
can get in all the exploration we need to do and
build up fresh reserves. The plant is working
well and we’re managing to maintain a good
throughput from a variety of sources. The Tau
Underground will anchor the operation for the
next three or four years and should have a posi-
tive impact on our cash costs.
“Certainly, the current gold price is as chal-
lenging to us as it is to most other gold miners
but we believe that we can continue to mine
profitably at Mupane even if the price dips
below US$1 000, as we do have enormous flex-
ibility in sizing production to the prevailing
gold price. So the outlook for Galane – which
is debt free and unhedged – is very good, and
will be even better if we can finalise the Galaxy
transaction,” he concludes.
Photos by Geoff McLoughlin of Mupane Mining
“This exploration
is vital if Mupane
is to have a future
into the 2020s.”
Charles Byron,
Director, Galane Gold