7 / 56
September 2016
MODERN MINING
5
MINING News
East Africa Metals Inc, listed on the TSX-V,
reports it has filed the mine permitting
application for the Terakimti oxide gold
project at its 70 %-owned Harvest project
in Ethiopia.
The Terakimti project has a mineral
resource of 1,12 Mt grading 3,2 g/t and
24,0 g/t silver for 107 000 ounces of gold
and 812 000 ounces of silver. Simulated
heap leach recoveries of 75,3 % gold and
39,7 % silver have been achieved.
Terakimti is proposed as an open-pit
mining operation followed by heap leach-
ing and on site processing to produce
gold-silver doré. The combination of near
surface oxide gold and silver mineralisa-
tion, hosted in soft rock when compared to
other deposits, high and rapid extraction
of gold at coarse crush sizes in metal-
lurgical testwork, along with satisfactory
percolation rates, all support this strategy
for the development of the project.
The project is located in the Tigray
region of northern Ethiopia, approximately
600 km north of Addis Ababa, the capital.
The region has regular air service and very
good, modern transportation and power
infrastructure.
The proposed mining operation would
utilise grid power for the project, for which
the nearest high tension power line is
approximately 7 km away. Primary road
access to the site is by paved highway
from the town of Shire, 40 km south of the
project.
Local surface and groundwater are
expected to be sufficient for a heap leach-
ing operation and the project would
maximise recycling of process water.
“Advancing the Terakimti gold oxide
project to the permitting stage will mark a
significant milestone for the company and
highlights the excellent performance the
company has achieved with its Ethiopian
assets,” says Andrew Lee Smith, President
and CEO of East Africa Metals. “The
resource at the Terakimti project shares
a similarity with other copper-gold proj-
ects in the region, such as the Bisha and
Debarwa deposits, in that the initial min-
ing opportunity was defined by the surface
gold-oxide resource followed by mining of
copper-gold-zinc sulphide resources.
“Management believes that, over time,
the potential exists for mining at Terakimti
to begin with the gold silver oxide and
then transition to high-grade supergene
copper oxide and eventually the copper-
gold sulphide resource. The Terakimti
oxide gold project will provide East Africa
the opportunity to benefit from estab-
lishing the first heap leach commercial
operation in the country, and generate
East Africa Metals applies to mine at Terakimti
East Africa Metals’ geologists working in the field on the company’s tenements in Ethiopia. The com-
pany’s two projects in Ethiopia are Harvest (which includes Terakimti) and Adyabo. They are roughly
15 km apart (photo: East Africa Metals).
cash flow to re-invest in exploration and
development to grow the company’s
resources in Ethiopia, which currently
stand at 926 000 gold equivalent ounces
in the indicated category plus 860 000
gold equivalent ounces in the inferred
category.”
Baobab phosphate project enters production
ASX-listed Avenira Limited says it has
reached a “transformational milestone”
with the first production being achieved at
its 80 %-owned Baobab phosphate project
in Senegal.
The Baobab process plant is going
through its commissioning procedures and
the first phosphate product is being stock-
piled ahead of trucking to port in the next
few weeks. Maiden product shipment is
expected to take place in late September or
October, somewhat dependent upon the
regional wet season.
Avenira says the first production marks a
critical step in its move into the agri-nutri-
ent sector, coming just five months after
mining activities commenced.
Stage 1 of the Baobab project is
designed to produce 500 000 t/a of phos-
phate concentrate. The successful US$15
million development of Stage 1, which was
delivered on time and on budget, paves
the way for Avenira to continue to pursue
its strategy of multiple stages of expansion
across the Baobab project.
“ The Baobab phosphate project
continues to progress steadily and it is fan-
tastic to see first production at this time,”
says Avenira’s Managing Director, Cliff
Lawrenson. “The project has moved from
the construction stage to commission-
ing and is proceeding through production
ramp-up with appropriate procedures and
protocols being phased in progressively. To
have achieved first production in August,
after starting mining activities in March,
is outstanding by any measure and is a
testament to the focused and committed
teamwork from the board to the project
operators.”