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MODERN MINING
May 2016
GOLD
W
hile New Luika now ranks as
a healthy operation (with its
production in the last quar-
ter of 2015 being a record
29 139 ounces and its All
in Sustaining Cost (AISC) a very competitive
US$595 an ounce), Bradbury says the mine has
had a “difficult childhood” and that it has taken
a great deal of hard work to get it to the point
where it is starting to realise its full potential.
“When the mine was originally planned
and developed, Shanta was very much a junior
company with limited resources and inevitably
compromises were made,” he states. “Literally
every function was outsourced and there was
very little technical competence in house. Also,
there were shortcomings with the building and
commissioning of the plant. All these issues
have now been addressed. A new elution and
electrowinning plant was installed in Q2 2014
and a new crusher/screening plant was com-
missioned later in the same year. In addition,
we now have very strong technical and engi-
neering skills within Shanta.”
Bradbury says that his predecessor Mike
Houston, who ran Zimplats in Zimbabwe
before joining Shanta and who took over the
management of the company just as New
Luika was starting its production ramp up,
was quick to identify the problem areas in
the plant and launched initiatives to get the
operation up and running at an increased
throughput capacity of 50 000 tonnes per
month (tpm) from the original 30 000 tpm
design. “Since taking over as CEO in April
last year, I’ve been able to build on the foun-
dation created by Mike and I believe New
Luika is now operating very efficiently, with
New Luika
heads underground
Currently an entirely open-pit operation, the New Luika
Gold Mine (NLGM) of AIM-listed Shanta Gold in Tanzania
will have transitioned by the second half of 2017 into
primarily an underground mine, a move which will involve
a pre-production capital expenditure of approximately
US$38 million (including new power generating capacity).
Commissioned in 2012, New Luika is the first – and still
the only – modern, commercial scale gold mine in the
historic Lupa goldfield of south-west Tanzania and
produced 82 000 ounces of gold in its 2015 financial year
(to 31 December 2015).
Modern Mining’s
Arthur Tassell
recently spoke to Shanta CEO Dr Toby Bradbury to learn
more about New Luika and its prospects.