Modern Mining August 2017

MINING News

First production from Balama delayed till October

in an accident en route from South Africa resulting in both items needing to be replaced. The replacement load bank and generator arrived on site at the end of July and have now been installed. Syrah says that management and supervision continue to give the highest priority to recovering lost time and have been working around the clock with con- tractors to implement several initiatives to ensure delivery of the project. The com- pany notes that, as the delay is relatively short and the initial planned production volumes are modest, it does not antici- pate any material impact on total planned production for the 12-month period com- mencing August. The operations team organisational structure is established and staffed, and the teams are completing training and preparation for operation of the pro- cessing plant. The mining contractor is established and – says Syrah – displaying excellent operational performance with initial mine development and the stock- piling of mineralised ore onto the ROM stockpile complete, ready for production. The mining technical support team con- tinues to refine the mine planning model. Balama will be a simple, low strip ratio, open-pit operation. Processing will utilise conventional processes including crush- ing, grinding, flotation, filtration, drying, screening and bagging. The processing rate is 2 Mt/a with the nameplate capacity being 380 000 tonnes of graphite concen- trate per annum.  Sébastien de Montessus, President and CEO, stated: “Under Patrick’s leadership, Ity has been transformed from a 20-year operation nearing the end of its life into an asset that now has the potential to be one of our flagship operations. Our abil- ity to quickly grow the indicated resource demonstrates the robustness of Ity, as well as the quality of our exploration team. We now look forward to announcing the results of the Optimisation Study and making a formal investment decision in September, following which we will transi- tion the construction team fromHoundé to Ity later this year.”  most prospective areas in West Africa and we look forward to building on our explora- tion success.”

The Balama processing plant photographed in June this year (photo: Syrah Resources).

be attributed to a number of factors, including contractor productivity and commitment to scheduled completion dates. It also cites some specific material shortages of vendor-related equipment and piping materials, minor fabrication, design and installation issues, requiring re-work, and reduced power availability delaying commissioning. Commissioning activities began in May 2017 utilising low voltage generator capacity on site and the planned usage of a 1 000 kVA portable generator from early July. On-site commissioning of the power station was dependent on the use of a load bank and sufficient load being available from the processing plant. Unfortunately, says Syrah, a truck transporting both the generator and the load bank was involved created from recent exploration success. “Our exploration team has done excep- tional work over the past months which has led to a significant increase in the resource base at Ity ahead of the Optimisation Study,” commented Patrick Bouisset, Executive Vice-President Exploration and Growth at Endeavour. “These results and the numer- ous other identified targets, on which initial drilling reconnaissance is currently being conducted, further demonstrate the prospective nature of the greater Ity area and our confidence in delivering against our five-year exploration strategy disclosed last November. We believe that the 80 km Ity corridor which we control is among the

In its second quarter report (to 30 June 2017), ASX-listed Syrah Resources says that its Balama graphite project in north- ern Mozambique was 90 % complete at the end of the quarter with commissioning activities underway. It notes, however, that subsequent delays in the construction completion of the processing plant have led to a delay in the commencement of production from late August into October and to an increase in the construction budget (including contingency) to US$205 million from US$200 million. According to Syrah, the slower than planned completion of structural steel erection, piping installation and electrical work in the processing plant (particularly in the flotation and filtration areas) can

Ity indicated resource climbs by a million ounces Endeavour Mining, listed on the TSX, reports that its exploration programme at its Ity CIL project in Côte d’Ivoire has increased the indicated resource by 1,0 Moz to 3,8 Moz since the beginning of the year. This marks a 1,5 million ounce increase in the indicated resource base since the publication of the November 2016 Feasibility Study (FS), representing a 65 % increase. An updated reserve estimate is due to be published in September as part of an Optimisation Study (OS) which is expected to be based on a circa 4,0 Mt/a gravity circuit/CIL plant, an increase from the previously contemplated 3,0 Mt/a plant, to better capture the value

6  MODERN MINING  August 2017