Modern Mining August 2018

MINING News

Lucapa recovers another ‘Special’ at Mothae

to local suppliers. The Malian government received US$2,5 billion of that amount, which represents more than 60 % of the net cash generated by the mines. Every year since 2010, Randgold’s operations in this country have accounted for some 6 % of Mali’s GDP,” he said. During the past quarter, another robust performance from Loulo’s underground mines offset a reduced contribution from Gounkoto, where the pushback for the super pit is in progress as planned. At Morila, the mine has completed the mining of its Domba satellite pit and is now processing the lower grade tailings mate- rial. The Ntiola and Viper satellite deposits are scheduled for mining until early 2019 and closure of the Morila mine is planned for 2020.  Lucapa MD Stephen Wetherall said the Special diamond recoveries were extremely encouraging and validated the company’s decision to commit to a concur- rent bulk sampling programme to improve the resource as the new 150 tonne per hour (t/h) Mothae commercial diamond plant was being built. “The concurrent Mothae bulk sampling programme was planned to provide addi- tional data over and above the information used to compile the original JORC resource. Certain areas of the kimberlite pipe which hadn’t historically been sampled (Neck zone), or where there had been very limited historical testing (South-East and North zones), were thought to be under-esti- mated as a result. At the time of acquisition, we believed there was much upside here and this programme is designed to deliver that upside,” saidWetherall. “To have already recovered Special sized diamonds from early sampling ton- nages in all three of these areas gives us great confidence we can achieve this goal. It also adds to our excitement as we advance construction of our new 150 t/h plant, which remains on track for commer- cial diamond production later this year to complement the high-value production from our Lulo mine in Angola.”  (Ed – Subsequent to announcing the recov- ery of the 11,88-carat diamond mentioned above, Lucapa has also reported the recov- ery of a 28-carat stone and two light pink diamonds, all from the North zone.)

The Mothae site showing the refurbished bulk sampling plant (photo: Lucapa).

Lucapa Diamond Company, listed on the ASX, and the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho (GoL) recently reported the recovery of another ‘Special’ (an individual diamond of greater than 10,8 carats) from the ongoing bulk sampling programme at the Mothae diamond mine in Lesotho, which is owned 70 % by Lucapa and 30 % by GoL. The 11,88-carat diamond was recov- ered from the North zone and is the first Special recovered from that section of the

of US$1 000 per ounce.  Depending on the gold price and input costs, the potential revenue to the State would increase by more than 100 % when compared with the original Gounkoto feasibility study. Randgold Chief Executive Mark Bristow said the deal was another milestone in the mutually rewarding partnership between the company and the Malian government. “Over more than 20 years, that part- nership has enabled us to bring Syama to account, develop Morila and build Loulo- Gounkoto into one of the world’s largest gold mines. During that time, our opera- tions have contributed US$5,9 billion to the Malian economy in the form of taxes, royalties, dividends, salaries and payments Mothae kimberlite pipe from current bulk sampling. Significantly, the latest recovery at Mothae means all three zones sampled have produced Specials – an 89-carat was the largest special recovered from the South-East zone and a 25-carat was also recovered from the Neck zone . The Mothae kimberlite pipe is a high- quality diamond resource located within 5 km of Letšeng, the highest US dollar per carat kimberlite diamondmine in theworld.

Agreement supports development of super pit The Malian government has agreed to grant Randgold’s Gounkoto mine a 50 % corporate tax reduction for the next four years to support its development of a super pit which will be one of the largest open- cast gold mines in Africa.

The agreement, which is a concession under Gounkoto’s original mining conven- tion that gave Gounkoto the right to apply for additional tax exonerations should it make additional investments, will see the mine’s life extended by more than five years. Likewise the super pit will make a significant contribution to the Loulo- Gounkoto complex’s 10-year plan, which envisages profitable production in excess of 600 000 ounces annually at a gold price

12  MODERN MINING  August 2018