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MODERN MINING
April 2015
MINING News
London-headquartered Stellar Diamonds
says it has commenced the applica-
tion process for a mining licence at its
100 %-owned, 1,45 million carat Tongo
Dyke-1 kimberlite project in eastern Sierra
Leone. This is as a result of the company’s
decision to fast-track Tongo to production
following recent positive resource defini-
tion work, mining studies and financial
modelling undertaken by ParadigmProject
Management (PPM) of South Africa.
Chief Executive Karl Smithson com-
mented: “Moving Tongo to the mining
licence application stage is a major mile-
stone for the project. Having recently
Stellar Diamonds applies for mining licence for Tongo
The 5 t/h bulk sampling plant at the Tongo Dyke-1 kimberlite project (photo: Stellar Diamonds).
defined a faster route to production
cash flow by the assessment of surface
mining studies and based on the exten-
sive resource and financial modelling
completed to date, Tongo has clear eco-
nomic potential. The application for a
mining licence will be accompanied by
updated mining and financial reports
under a Preliminary Economic Assessment
instead of a previously planned Definitive
Feasibility Study in order to cut costs and
seek to fast-track Tongo to production.
Simultaneous to this, we intend to estab-
lish a suitable financing structure to access
debt funding for the majority of the US$20
million of capital expenditure which is esti-
mated to be required to bring the project
into production.”
PPMwill consolidate and update all pre-
vious technical reporting into a single PEA.
This will include an updated mine plan for
both surface and underground mining, re-
budgeting of all previous operating and
capital expenditure figures and the gen-
eration of an up-to-date financial model.
Stellar is targeting a production of
120 000 carats at Tongo via surface min-
ing in the first three years of operation and
over 1 million carats over an estimated
16-year mine life.
Construction starts on Yaramoko gold project
Roxgold Inc, listed on the TSX Venture
Exchange, has begun construction at its
Yaramoko gold project in Burkina Faso,
advancing towards production in Q2 2016.
The project is designed to produce 99 500
ounces of gold a year – with an initial life of
mine of over seven years – from an under-
ground mining operation.
Construction has commenced on the
190-person camp at Yaramoko and bulk
earthworks are underway. The fixed price,
lump sum EPC contractors, DRA/Group
Five, are expected to mobilise and com-
mence construction of the processing plant
in the current quarter (Q2 2015). The under-
ground contractor, AUMS, is also mobilising
and is due to begin establishment of the
portal to access the deposit in Q2 2015.
“We are delighted to announce that
we have officially broken ground at
Yaramoko. In less than three years, Roxgold
has advanced the project from a maiden
resource through feasibility and permit-
ting and now into construction,” said John
Dorward, Roxgold’s President and CEO.
“We remain well-funded and expect to be
pouring gold at our high grade, low cost
operation in the second quarter of next
year.”
The expected pre-production capital
costs for the project stand at US$110,8
million, an increase of approximately 4 %
from the amount in the Feasibility Study
published in April 2014. The increase is pri-
marily attributable to scope changes. These
include the adoption of a plastic liner for
the project’s tailings storage facility, which
was a new requirement outlined by Burkina
Faso’s environmental permitting authority.
In addition, the SAG mill and associated
equipment have been upsized to facilitate
a future expansion of the processing plant’s
capacity and the backup (diesel) power
station capacity has also been increased,
which will provide Yaramoko with full
standby capability in support of the grid
connected power line.
To date, US$10,8 million has been spent
on long lead project items such as the
SAG mill, detailed engineering design, the
Armtec tunnel for the underground mine
access, as well as tower steel and a trans-
former for the 90 kV power line.