33 / 60
GOLD
April 2015
MODERN MINING
31
catalyst for development in this relatively
remote and undeveloped part of Liberia. We
regard it as an extremely exciting opportunity
for Hummingbird.”
With Yanfolila about to enter construction
and Dugbe 1 at a very advanced stage, Betts
can take satisfaction from the progress he has
made with Hummingbird since he founded
it in 2005. His achievement is all the more
remarkable given that he is neither a geologist
nor a mining engineer and that prior to estab-
lishing Hummingbird he had no experience in
either exploration or mining (although his fam-
ily has a metals trading business, which he is
still associated with).
Although he is based in the UK (he splits
his time between Birmingham and London), he
has spent large amounts of time in West Africa
over the years, particularly in Liberia, which is
where Hummingbird first focused its efforts. He
has taken to the exploration and mining game
with enthusiasm and insists that Hummingbird
should be seen as a mine-builder rather than as
a company which takes deposits up the value
curve with a view to selling them off once
they’ve progressed to the point where they are
attractive to majors.
As he says, “We very definitely want to mine
and this ambition will soon be realised with
Yanfolila. Once that’s up and running, it will
provide a platform for us to develop Dugbe 1,
which is likely to be a more complex and
expensive task given the size of our deposits in
the Dugbe Shear Zone – and their capacity to
grow. Ultimately, we want to be a mid-tier gold
producer focused on the Birimian deposits of
West Africa and I believe we are well on our
way to achieving this goal.”
Report by Arthur Tassell, photos courtesy of Hummingbird
Resources (unless otherwise acknowledged)
An access road under construction at the Dugbe project.
A core drill working at Dugbe. The project already has a 4,2 Moz gold resource and is said to
have significant exploration upside.
Latest developments on Yanfolila
In an update on Yanfolila issued as we were going to press with this issue,
Hummingbird announced that the orders for the long lead items for the
project had been placed. These include the 4,3 m diameter x 6,0 m long ball
mill, to be supplied by Outotec SA, and the 800 t/h mineral sizer, which is
being sourced from MMD Mineral Sizing (Africa), based in Johannesburg.
It also announced that a Letter of Intent had been signed with Société de
Forage et de Travaux Publics (SFTP) to commence plant earthworks and that
it had concluded a binding agreement with BCM International Ltd (BCM), a
well-established mining and civil earthworks contractor, whereby BCM will
subscribe for up to US$5 million of shares in Hummingbird in lieu of pay-
ment for services during the construction phase.
In addition, Hummingbird has appointed a Project ConstructionManager
for Yanfolila. He is Johann du Preez, who has worked for Lycopodium in
Burkina Faso and who was the Construction Manager for MDM Ferroman
on the construction of the Loulo gold mine for Randgold Resources and the
Tabakoto gold mine for Nevsun Resources, both in Mali.