Modern Mining August 2017

MINING News

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

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. ments have been reduced by over 20 % from around 27 000 m 3 to approximately 20 000 m 3 while the plant fill volume has been reduced by over 80 % to around 27 000 m 3 from approximately 190 000 m 3 . 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

“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 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. 

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-

8  MODERN MINING  August 2017