Modern Mining November 2016

MINING News

Balama on course for Q2 2017 commissioning

from the Prestea Open Pits and maintain a second ore source from the mine. “I am very pleased that Golden Star has been granted themining lease for Mampon,” comments Sam Coetzer, Golden Star’s President and CEO. “Through mining this high grade surface deposit we will generate strong short-term cash flow and it will assist us in maintaining production from Prestea until Prestea Underground commences pro- duction in the second quarter of 2017. “With exceptionally high grade min- eral reserves at 14,02 g/t, the real prize at Prestea is the underground mine, but the Prestea Open Pits have provided and will continue to provide useful cash flow to us during this transition period and I am very glad that, along with Mampon, they will now continue to produce until at least the second half of 2017.”  During the quarter, Syrah announced the resignation of MD Tolga Kumova as “part of a transition reflecting the evolving strategic direction of the company and the key development activities it is currently undertaking”. Chairman Jim Askew has stepped into an Executive Chairman role for the interim period and, says Syrah, a global search for a new MD has commenced with the objective of making this appointment within the next fewmonths.  tions has beenmobilised including nine Bell B40 articulated dump trucks, two Liebherr excavators, two Caterpillar dozers, two Caterpillar graders and two fuel tankers. The mining contractor, Tayanna Mozambique, has commenced establishment of its min- ing compound and offices. Construction of the run-of-mine (ROM) pad with a capacity of 360 000 tonnes is underway with com- pletion expected in January 2017. The Structural, Mechanical and Piping (SMP) contract has been awarded to Kentz Engineers & Contractors Limitada (Kentz), a member of the global SNC-Lavalin Group. Kentz has mobilised to site and established a 300-person camp. Syrah reports that the Balama project budget has been increased from US$175 million to US$185 million to incorporate changes of scope related to improved product quality. These changes are: intro- duction of attrition cells to the process flow sheet; and additional on-stream analysis to optimise product qualification.

Slabs for the product classification and bagging area at Balama (photo: Syrah).

In its report for the quarter ending 30 September 2016, ASX-listed Syrah Resources says that its Balama graphite project remains on course for commission- ing in Q2 of calendar year 2017. Balama – situated in the Cabo Delgado province of northern Mozambique, some 200 km west of the port town of Pemba – currently hosts what is reported to be the world’s largest reserve of contained graph- ite at Balama East and Balama West, with a combined ore reserve (JORC 2012) of 81,4Mt at 16% total graphitic carbon (TGC), sufficient for over 40 years of mine life. The project is planned as a simple, open- pit mining operation with a low strip ratio. Based on a mining feed rate of 2 Mt/a, at an average head grade of approximately 19 % TGC over the first 10 years of operations, approximately 355 000 tonnes of graphite

mental permit. GSR expects to start mining Mampon in the first half of 2017. Golden Star began mining the Prestea Open Pits in the third quarter of 2015 to bridge the gap between the Bogoso refrac- tory operations ceasing production and the commencement of production from the high grade Prestea Underground Gold Mine, which is expected to occur in the sec- ond quarter of 2017. The company had anticipated that pro- duction from the Prestea Open Pits would be completed by the end of the third quar- ter of 2016 but production is now forecast to continue until the second half of 2017. Golden Star says it will also endeavour to delineate additional mineral reserves in the area in order to further extend production concentrate will be produced per annum. Syrah intends to move product from Balama to Nacala port, located approxi- mately 490 km south-east of the project. Trucking of product will be outsourced to a contractor and, at full production, there will approximately 67 trucks (B-Double trailers), each transporting approximately 36 one-ton bags of product from Balama to Nacala daily. The ramp up of personnel on site has continued with approximately 1 400 direct staff and contractors on site by late October, a figure which is expected to peak at 2 000. Detailed engineering and design of the process plant has been completed and over 70 % of the required concrete for the plant has been poured by the civil contrac- tor, CMC Africa. The mining fleet required for full opera-

Golden Star awarded mining lease for Mampon Golden Star Resources (GSR), listed on the NYSE MKT and TSX, has received a mining lease for the Mampon deposit in Ghana. Mampon is a high grade, oxide deposit containing 45 000 ounces of gold (304 kt at 4,60 g/t), approximately 80 km to the north of GSR’s CIL processing plant at the Bogoso site. There is an existing, good quality road connecting the deposit and the processing plant for the majority of the distance, so lim- ited capital expenditures will be required in order to bring Mampon into production. Higher grade ore from Mampon will be blended with ore from the Prestea Open Pits, which is expected to enhance Golden Star’s cash flow in 2017. Following the receipt of the mining lease, the next step for the company is to obtain an environ-

16  MODERN MINING  November 2016