Modern Mining April 2017

MINING News

A striking night view of Bouly. The mine is a heap leach operation (photo: Nordgold). and Noungou satellite pits. Once these are complete, mining licence applications will be submitted in mid-2017.

the African mines are Taparko in Burkina Faso and Lefa in Guinea. Taparko pro- duced 111,2 koz of gold in 2016, a 39 % increase year-on-year, while Lefa produced 194,7 koz, a decrease of 9 % on the 2015 figure, caused mainly by flooding in the higher grade Karta pit. 

ing geological mapping, geochemical sampling and drilling will continue on per- mits near Bissa with particular emphasis on the Baola II permit. Listed on the LSE, Nordgold operates mines in Africa, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Apart from the Bissa-Bouly operation,

Nordgold is also seeking to obtain access to three additional exploration areas in Burkina Faso near Bissa. In parallel, aggressive brownfield exploration includ-

Shanta Gold revises New Luika Mine Plan Shanta Gold, whose shares are quoted on AIM, has announced a Revised Mine Plan (RMP) from January 2017 to December 2023 and an updated reserves statement for its New Luika Gold Mine (NLGM) near Mbeya in south-west Tanzania.

“Considerable depth has been added to an already robust business case due to our delivery over the past 18 months and we will look to extend the planning hori- zon for the New Luika operation again in future. “We will continue to explore on-mine to bring existing indicated and inferred resources into the future mine plan and also in surrounding prospecting tene- ments to define new resources. Since the Base Case Mine Plan was published in September 2015, the Elizabeth Hill and Ilunga reserves have been successfully proven and incorporated into the Revised Mine Plan. We will take the same approach following positive results recently announced at the Nkuluwisi prospect, and with the highly prospective ground we hold in the Lupa Goldfield.” 

majority of plant feed – 2,4 Mt at 5,8 g/t for 444 500 oz contained – over the life of the mine. A separate tailings recovery project scheduled from 2019 will produce a fur- ther 14 600 oz with a standalone project NPV of US$2,8 million at an 8 % discount rate and a pre-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 39 %. Potential remains to further optimise the mine schedule, with optional- ity through the addition of the high grade Ilunga underground reserve. Toby Bradbury, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The Revised Mine Plan high- lights the true prospectivity and future long life of the New Luika Gold Mine. The plan provides for a longer mine life, increased production and most importantly, greater returns for all Shanta stakeholders.

The RMP provides for underground min- ing, surface mining and a tailings recovery project and now incorporates the addi- tional open-pit reserves at Elizabeth Hill and additional underground reserves at Ilunga. It provides for processing from underground and surface mining of 4 Mt of ore at an average grade of 4,2 g/t for the production of 500 000 oz from January 2017 to 2023. Underground operations accessing high grade orebodies will provide the

April 2017  MODERN MINING  5