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June 2015
MODERN MINING
41
MINING IN AFRICA
feature
could present a challenge to Ghana’s dominant
position in the region’s gold mining industry.
Its first gold mine, Taparko, opened in 2005 and
has subsequently been joined by several more
including Essakane, Mana, Kalsaka and Inata.
In addition, there is a large artisanal mining
industry in the country.
Probably the next gold mines to come on line
in Burkina Faso will be Yaramoko and Karma,
which are being developed by Roxgold and
True Gold Mining respectively, both listed on
Canada’s TSX-V. Both projects have entered the
construction phase and Roxgold reported at the
end of May that it had received approval of its
mining convention for the Yaramoko project.
Commissioning of Yaramoko is expected in Q2
2016 while Karma expects to pour its first gold
in March 2016.
Yaramoko
, which is costing US$110,8 mil-
lion to develop, will be an underground mine
with an estimated average annual gold produc-
tion of nearly 100 000 ounces over an initial
mine life of 7,4 years at an all-in sustaining cost
of US$590/oz. The average mill feed grade is
expected to be 11,59 g/t with the average gold
recovery being 96,9 %. The EPC contractor
tasked with delivering the 270 000 tonnes per
year processing plant and related infrastruc-
ture is a DRA/Group Five joint venture while
the underground contractor is AUMS (African
Underground Mining Services).
True Gold’s
Karma
project is once again
under construction after operations were
temporarily suspended in January this year
following opposition to the mine by some com-
munity members (including artisanal miners)
which resulted in demonstrations at the mine
site and damage (amounting to approximately
US$6 million) to equipment and infrastructure.
Located 185 km north of Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso’s capital, Karma (see also page
53) is a technically simple open-pit, heap leach
mine which will produce an average of 97 000
ounces a year over an eight-and-half-year mine
life (although further phases of development
are anticipated). The project has a capex of
US$131,5 million with the estimated payback
period being just 16 months. South Africa’s
SENET is the EPCM contractor.
The
Houndé
project of Canada’s Endeavour
Mining, located 250 km south-west of Ouaga
dougou, is also currently well advanced, with
the mining permit having been issued in
February this year and a mine construction plan
in place. If given the go-ahead, Houndé will be
developed as a large scale open-pit mine with
the processing plant consisting of a 3 Mt/a grav-
ity/CIL facility. It would produce 240 000 oz/a
for the first three years of a 10-year mine life.
The capital cost is estimated at US$325 million.
Endeavour, of course, is an experienced West
African player. It already has a producing mine
– Youga – in Burkina Faso and also operates
the Agbaou, Nzema and Tabakoto mines in Côte
d’Ivoire, Ghana and Mali respectively.
Another project at an advanced stage is
Bomboré
, located 85 km east of Ouagadougou,
which is 100 % owned by Canada’s Orezone
Gold Corp. The company’s executives have
long experience of Burkina Faso, many of them
having previously been involved with the
development of the Essakane mine (commis-
sioned in 2010 and now owned by IAMGOLD).
The just completed feasibility study on the
project envisions a shallow open-pit mining
operation with a processing circuit that com-
bines heap leaching and carbon-in-leach (CIL)
without any grinding to process the soft and
mostly free digging oxidised ores (with the
sulphides to be exploited in a later phase of
development).
The 11-year mine plan is designed to deliver
‘higher’ grade ore in the early years (0,88 g/t
over the first eight years of production at a strip
ratio of 1:1). Gold production during the first
eight years would be 135 000 ounces a year
with lower grade stockpiles being processed in
the final three years. Initial capital is estimated
at US$250 million including contingencies.
Orezone announced at the end of May this year
that it had applied for a mining permit for the
project. It is hoping to start construction early
in 2016 with commissioning of the project
expected in the second half of 2017.
Liberia opening up
Apart from Ghana, Mali, Ivory Coast and
Burkina Faso, several other West African
The New Liberty mine in
Liberia recently poured its
first gold (photo: Aureus
Mining).
If given the go-
ahead, Houndé
will be developed
as a large
scale open-pit
mine with the
processing plant
consisting of a
3 Mt/a gravity/
CIL facility.