Modern Mining November 2017

MINING News

Golden Star records 64 % increase in its quarterly gold production

try experience in both operational and corporate leadership positions, primarily in Africa. Prior to joining Acacia, he held senior roles at AngloGold Ashanti (25 years) and Barrick Gold Corporation. He joined Acacia inMay 2012 asVice President, Organisational Effectiveness. Since then, he has been a key member of the Executive Team of Acacia and an integral part of the company’s turn- around. During his time with Acacia, he has also served as General Manager of the Bulyanhulu mine and helped lead the suc- cessful restructuring of the business. Maritz (42) has been with Acacia and its predecessor companies since 2001 in a range of increasingly senior finance roles covering all aspects of the finance function. He was initially employed by Placer Dome, which was acquired by Barrick in 2006, and was part of Acacia at its inception.  ing cost per ounce was US$671 in the third quarter of 2017, a 30 %decrease compared to Q3 2016, due to the 38 % decrease in the cash operating cost per ounce at Prestea and the 23 % decrease at Wassa. The con- solidated AISC per ounce was US$848, a 26 % decrease compared to Q3 2016, and the consolidated cost of sales per ounce was US$855, a 26 % decrease compared to the same period in 2016. From a development perspective, GSR made robust progress during the third quarter of 2017. The successful blasting of the initial ore from the first stope in the West Reef orebody at Prestea Underground took place in late September 2017. During the third quarter of 2017, the mine deliv- ered 3 204 ounces of gold and production is expected to continue to ramp up as the mine moves towards commercial produc- tion.  This is anticipated to be achieved during the fourth quarter of 2017. At Wassa, GSR has decided to delay the next pushback of Wassa Main Pit, Cut 3, until a time when the gold price is higher and the open pit will deliver higher margin ore. From early 2018 Wassa will become solely an underground operation as GSR focuses on producing higher grade, higher margin ounces that will generate the strongest cash flow. 

Golden Star Resources (GSR), listed on NYSE American and the TSX, has reported a 64 % increase in gold production to 73 827 ounces in the third quarter of 2017 compared to the third quarter of 2016. GSR operates the Prestea andWassa goldmines in Ghana. This “compelling result” – as GSR describes it – was achieved as a result of the fifth consecutive quarter of record gold production from the Prestea Open Pits (38 899 ounces), including the Mampon deposit, which represents a 71 % increase compared to Q3 2016. It was also due to the continued out- performance by the mining team at Wassa Underground in achieving significantly higher daily mining rates during the third quarter of 2017 than targeted for the year (1 400 tonnes per day (tpd)). The average mining rate during the period was over 2 200 tpd, which also represents a 40 % increase compared to the second quarter of 2017. The third quarter of 2017 was also a notable quarter from a cost perspective, as it delivered the lowest cash operating cost per ounce in seven years and the lowest AISC per ounce since GSR began reporting this metric four years ago. Golden Star’s consolidated cash operat-

Vedanta group in 2011. The project’s cur- rent reserve and resource is 214 Mt, with a grade of between 6 and 6,5 %. From the first blast for Phase 1 in July 2015, pre-start mining advanced accord- ing to schedule. Completion in April 2017 of an access ramp – essential for waste pre- stripping to access the orebody for bulk mining – was a significant milestone. The contractor for the bulk mining is Aveng Moolmans. The EPCM contractor for the processing facility (and related infrastructure includ- ing the power and water plants) is ELB Engineering, who will be using – for the first time in a zinc application – the new staged flotation reactor (SFR) technology of Canada’s Woodgrove Technologies in the plant. Benefits of the technology over conventional mechanical cells reportedly include a much more compact footprint, reduced power and air requirements, less instrumentation and reduced wear and maintenance costs due to lower impeller tip speeds. The Gamsberg team was able to robustly review the capital cost of Phase 1 and reduce it from US$600 mil- lion to US$400 million. These measures enhanced Gamsberg’s viability consid- erably during the period when the zinc price weakened. 

Brad Gordon steps down at Acacia Mining Acacia, which operates three gold mines in Tanzania has advised the market that Brad Gordon, Chief Executive Officer, and Andrew Wray, Chief Financial Officer, have separately notified the company of their intention to resign from their positions. Both will remain with Acacia until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition. Gordon will be returning to Australia for family reasons, while Wray is pursuing an opportunity elsewhere.

Concurrently, Acacia has announced the appointment of Peter Geleta, cur- rently Acacia’s Head of Organisational Effectiveness, as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Jaco Maritz, currently Acacia’s General Manager, Finance, will be appointed Chief Financial Officer. Both appointments will be effective from 1 January 2018. Geleta (54) has 35 years of mining indus-

November 2017  MODERN MINING  5