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GOLD
November 2016
MODERN MINING
29
Site layout and
infrastructure of the Ity
gold mine.
to have a nominal capacity of
3,0 Mt/a based on a constant blend
of approximately 60 % primary and
40 % oxide ore.
The process plant will consist of
a vibrating grizzly/single stage pri-
mary crushing circuit that produces a
crushed product size of P80 160 mm,
followed by a coarse ore stockpile area
that supplies the SAG/ball mill grind-
ing circuit. The gravity testwork has
indicated that a portion of the gold in
the CIL feed can be recovered by grav-
ity gold recovery methods. A gravity
concentrator and Intensive Leach
Reactor (ILR) have been included in
the design.
The CIL circuit comprises six CIL
tanks containing carbon for gold and
silver adsorption and a 15-t split Anglo
(AARL) elution circuit. Electrowinning and
induction furnace smelting completes the gold
doré production process. A cyanide detoxifica-
tion circuit is included in the process facility
design, for treatment of process residue before
discharge to the 46 Mt TSF, located adjacent to
the processing facility. Feed water for the pro-
cessing facility will come from various sources
such as pit dewatering bores, the Cavally River
for make-up and decant return from the TSF.
It is expected that overall gold recovery
rates for the life of mine will be 83 %, varying
between 60 % and 97 % amongst deposits and
mineralisation.
The infrastructure in place will be improved
with roads upgraded to an all-weather and free
draining carriageway to provide access for the
delivery of equipment, materials and services
to the site. A new camp will be built approxi-
mately 1 km west of the process plant and will
provide accommodation for 200 employees.
A Cavally River diversion will be installed
upstream of the Daapleu pit, with a second
diversion upstream of the Walter pit. Pit protec-
tion bunds will also be installed and a bridge/
culvert road structure from Daapleu over the
Cavally River will also be built.
The proposed approach to project imple-
mentation is similar in nature to the current
execution methodology of the Endeavour
Project Services in-house team. In terms of
this model, Endeavour will engage a suitably
qualified EPCM engineer for design and con-
struction management of the process plant and
infrastructure, which will then be handed over
to an Owner’s operating team.
“The robust results of the feasibility study
for the Ity CIL project and the exploration
upside demonstrate the potential for the Ity
mine complex to become another flagship
asset,” comments Sebastian de Montessus,
Endeavour’s President and CEO. “We believe
this project aligns very well with our key
strategic criteria for project development and
is another example of our ability to identify
and advance internal development opportu-
nities that crystallise long-term value for our
shareholders.
“The Ity CIL project has the potential to be
a long-life, low-cost mine with exploration
upside that can add materially to our overall
production and be a positive cash flow genera-
tor, while lowering our group all-in sustaining
cost profile. Furthermore, the greater Ity area
also offers some of the most promising explo-
ration potential within our portfolio and along
the prolific Birimian greenstone belt. Its impor-
tance as our top priority exploration area will
be highlighted in our soon to be released five
year exploration strategy.
“With strong financing and liquidity sources
available, we look forward to quickly moving
toward an investment decision in early 2017.
This would allow us to smoothly transition our
in-house construction team currently working
on our Houndé project. In addition, we will
also explore the potential and trade-offs to run
the CIL and heap leaching operations in paral-
lel for the first few years.”
Ity has the longest operating history of any
gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire, with gold first dis-
covered near the village of Ity in the 1950s and
the first modern gold production reported in
1991. It has produced more than 1,2 Moz of
gold in its 20+ year operations. It is located
approximately 480 km north-west of Abidjan.
“We believe this
project aligns
very well with
our key strategic
criteria for project
development ... .”