Modern Mining September 2015

COUNTRY FOCUS – NAMIBIA

Regarding safety, Otjikoto has maintained a generally good record. In fact, the construc- tion phase (which included the mill expansion that ran concurrently with operations in 2015) was completed in August 2015 with a record of 900 LTI-free days. Two minor LTIs, however, have been sustained during operations at the mine, one in October 2014 and the second in August this year. The excellent performance of Otjikoto can be judged from the figures for the second quarter of 2015, the first full quarter of commercial pro- duction. Over the three-month period, the mine produced 36 963 ounces of gold compared to its budget of 35 106 ounces and the 31 134 ounces (including 18 815 ounces of pre-commercial production) produced in the first quarter of 2015. Higher than budgeted gold production was mainly the result of better than expected mill throughput (711 462 tonnes processed versus 624 112 tonnes budgeted) and higher mill recoveries than projected (98,7 % versus 95,6 % budgeted). During the quarter, the average daily mill throughput was approximately 7 900 tonnes of ore per day, exceeding the design capacity of approximately 6 800 tonnes of ore per day. The average gold grade processed was 1,63 g/t compared to the budget of 1,83 g/t. The processed gold grade continues to increase towards budget as the mine opti- mises mining grade control to reduce ore loss

Left: The processing plant at Otjikoto, which has now been expanded to take its capacity to 3 Mt/a. Below: A very recent view of the Otjikoto pit. The mine operates a fleet of 12 Cat 777D haul trucks which

starting blocks

This has involved the installation of additional leach tanks, a pebble crusher and associated piping and pumping components. The work has just been completed and the plant is now working at its full 3 Mt/a capacity.

are loaded by Liebherr excavators and a Cat hydraulic face shovel.

feature

September 2015  MODERN MINING  33