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MODERN MINING
March 2016
MINING News
First gold poured at Buckreef project in Tanzania
Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation,
listed on the TSX and NYSE, reports that its
55 %-owned Buckreef redevelopment gold
project has successfully completed its first
gold pour.
The company notes that the timing
and amount of the pour of gold was not a
decision of management but was done in
response to a request made by the Deputy
Minister of Energy and Minerals of Tanzania.
“As a show of reasonable willingness to
cooperate on this non-contract item, we
did what we preferred not to do – pour
prematurely to proper market price,” says
Tanzanian Royalty. “It is the opinion of man-
agement that in time the gold price will rise
to at least US$800 higher than it was at the
time of the pour.”
The pilot CIC process plant is in the
process of being de-commissioned and
assimilated into a more flexible CIL process
plant designed with an initial throughput of
45 000 tonnes of mineralised material per
month.
The company is in the process of com-
pleting a Feasibility Study (FS) with a view
to targeting full-scale commercial gold pro-
duction in the second half of this year.
Celebrating the first gold pour at the Buckreef redevelopment gold project (photo: Tanzanian Royalty).
Reporting on its Yaramoko gold project in
Burkina Faso, Canada’s Roxgold Inc says
that approximately US$64 million of the
US$110,8 million capital estimate has been
spent to date and the project remains on
budget. The overall construction pro-
gramme is approximately 75 % complete
and on schedule and project commission-
ing remains on target for Q2 2016.
“We are very pleased with the progress
on the project in recent months,” com-
ments Roxgold’s President and CEO, John
Dorward. “With a number of important
infrastructure works now complete, the
team is focusing on underground devel-
opment and the start of commissioning
activities.”
During the month of December 2015,
the underground mine access infrastruc-
ture was completed with the Armtec
tunnel installed and the boxcut backfilled.
Underground development has
Yaramoko heads for second quarter commissioning
advanced well, with the underground
contractor, African Underground Mining
Services (AUMS), delivering several months
of above plan development rates. Total
development meterage stood at 1 237 m
as at the end of January against a planned
level of 972 m. The ramp had advanced
610 m from the portal and level develop-
ment was advancing on four levels, namely
the 5270, 5253, 5236 and 5219 levels.
Since the last update, the deposit has
been cross-cut at the above mentioned
four levels, exposing the 55 Zone vein.
Roxgold says it is encouraged by what
has been observed here with the orebody
and thickness consistent with that of the
block model. Initial chip sampling of the
crosscuts indicates that ore grades are also
consistent with expectations.
The vent raise contractor, Bauer Drilling,
is on site and has completed the pilings
for the first vent raise. Initial site works
for the raise boring contractor, Murray &
Roberts, are well advanced. All equipment
associated with the final installation of the
ventilation fans is on site.
Construction of the surface mine infra-
structure, including workshops, offices
and back-up power station, remain on
schedule. The surface settling ponds are
complete and the recycling of under-
ground water has commenced.
Construction of the processing plant
by the lump sum EPC contractor, the DRA/
Group Five Joint Venture, is approximately
80 % complete.
Since the last update, key mechani-
cal packages such as the thickener, kiln,
screens, cyclone pack, agitators, carbon
transfer pumps, reagent mixing and
crusher plant have been received on site
and installed.
The Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) tanks had
been erected to their full height by the
end of January with top of tank steel also
in place.
Pangolin Diamonds Corp, listed on the
TSX-V, has provided an update on its
Malatswae diamond project, located 105
km south-east of the Karowe diamond
mine of Lucara in Botswana.
The most recent results are from the
MTS grid where pyrope garnets with near-
source features were previously reported.
Following on these initial results, an addi-
tional 78 soil samples from the MTS grid
have been confirmed to contain kimberlite
indicator minerals.
Pyrope garnet has been visually-con-
firmed in 62 of the 78 grid samples and
ranges from 0,4-1,0 mm in maximum
dimension. Pyrope garnets with near-
source surface features are present in 55 of
the 62 samples, with 12 of those samples
having four or more garnets with near-
source features.
“These latest results continue to build
upon previous data for the MTS grid that
suggest that undiscovered kimberlites
are present within the MTS grid area,”
comments Pangolin’s President and Chief
Executive Officer, Dr Leon Daniels.
Pangolin updates
on Malatswae