Modern Mining August 2017

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MODERN MINING

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August 2017

MINING News

The two remaining components of the

Kibali gold mine – its underground shaft

system and third hydropower plant – are

both on track, said Randgold Resources

Chief Executive Mark Bristow at a recent

media briefing in Kinshasa. These proj-

ects will effectively deliver the giant mine

to nameplate design, scheduled for later

this year.

Bristow said that while Kibali was work-

ing towards delivering the underground

mine, it was alsomaintaining a steady oper-

ational performance and, as reported at the

end of the first quarter, was well positioned

to meet its production target of 610 000

ounces of gold this year on the back of bet-

ter grades forecast from the underground

ramp up, particularly in the fourth quarter.

He also pointed to ongoing brownfields

exploration that was showing potential to

add resources and reserves going forward.

Bristow noted that since the project

was launched in 2010, Kibali had con-

tributed US$2,2 billion to the Congolese

economy in the form of taxes, salaries

and payments to local suppliers. The mine

started production in 2013 and has repa-

triated more than 40 % of its gold sales

revenue since first production in 2013,

meeting and exceeding the requirements

of the country’s mining code.

The government is currently again con-

sidering changes to this code and Bristow

said this represented an unmissable

opportunity to lay the foundations for a

sustainable mining industry in the DRC.

The processing plant at Kibali. The mine has been under development since 2010 and, later this year, will have all the facilities and infrastructure in place to

allow it to deliver to nameplate capacity (photo: Randgold Resources).

Full development of Kibali mine nearly complete

“I am concerned, however, that the

government is not engaging in open and

inclusive consultations with the indus-

try and appears to be proceeding from

a pre-determined position that may put

existing and future mining investments at

risk,” he said.

“The mining industry is the main engine

of the Congolese economy. Government

and the private sector must work together

to find the best way of growing this indus-

try and to avoid potentially damaging

short-term actions by realistically consid-

ering their consequences.”

Bristow said despite Randgold’s con-

cerns about proposed revisions to the

mining code and other challenges in the

DRC, it was continuing to invest in the

Site earthworks requirements at Colluli reduced

ASX-listed Danakali and its joint venture

partner, the Eritrean National Mining Cor

poration (ENAMCO), have announced that

– following a comprehensive optimisation

programme – the overall site earthworks

requirements for the Colluli potash proj-

ect in Eritrea have been reduced relative

to the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).

Evaluation of the earthworks requirements

follows a reduction in the overall size of the

processing recovery ponds. This reduction

occurred despite an increase in the process-

ing plant throughput relative to the DFS.

A cut-and-fill process seeks to match

the volume of required extraction material

(‘cut’) to the required volume for construc-

tion (‘fill’) to minimise construction labour

and cost. The processing plant cut require-

ments have been reduced by over 20 %

from around 27 000 m

to approximately

20 000 m

while the plant fill volume has

been reduced by over 80 % to around

27 000 m

from approximately 190 000 m

Further improvements include a reduc-

tion in overall site cut-and-fill volumes

as a consequence of the reduction in the

recovery pond footprint size. Total site fill

volumes have decreased by approximately

22 % relative to the DFS.

The project is located in the Danakil

Depression region of Eritrea, and is approx-

imately 75 km from the Red Sea coast,

making it one of the most accessible potash

deposits globally. Mineralisation within the

Colluli resource commences at just 16 m,

reportedly making it the world’s shallowest

potash deposit. The resource is amenable

to open-pit mining.

Danakali and ENAMCO each have a

50 % ownership interest in the joint ven-

ture company, the Colluli Mining Share

Company (CMSC).

The company has completed a definitive

feasibility study for the production of potas-

sium sulphate, otherwise known as SOP, a

chloride-free, specialty fertiliser which car-

ries a substantial price premium relative

to potassium chloride, the more common

potash type. Economic resources for pro-

duction of SOP are geologically scarce. One

of the key advantages of the resource is that

the salts are present in solid form (in con-

trast with production of SOP from brines)

which reduces infrastructure costs and

substantially reduces the time required to

achieve full production capacity.

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