Modern Mining August 2019

The Mothae diamond mine in the highlands of Lesotho. It began operations in January this year (photo: Lucapa).

Lucapa's Mothae mine running ahead of plan

ery of an “exceptional” 64-carat diamond from Mothae. Lucapa’s MD, Stephen Wetherall, described the Type IIa D-colour gem as the best individual gem recovered from Mothae to date. Apart from Mothae, Lucapa also oper- ates (and 40 % owns) the highly successful Lulo alluvial mine in Angola, which in the June quarter produced its thirteenth plus 100-carat diamond.  tions that most of the deposits comprising the resource estimation offer upside poten- tial. The drill and exploration programme announced today (25 July), which includes up to three drill rigs and approximately 27 000 m of drilling, is part of our plan to increase resources as we move the project through a preliminary economic assess- ment and into the feasibility stage of development.” The project currently includes numer- ous deposits and prospects within a 7,5-km radius. This configuration is conducive to a multi-pit operation feeding into a central- ised processing facility, similar to Teranga’s Sabodala and Wahgnion gold operations, in Senegal and Burkina Faso respectively. Earlier this year, after only 18 months of drilling, Teranga announced an initial mineral resource estimate for Golden Hill that included indicated mineral resources of 6,40 Mt averaging 2,02 g/t gold for 415 000 ounces, and inferred mineral resources of 11,95 Mt averaging 1,68 g/t gold for 644 000 ounces. 

ASX-listed Lucapa reports that diamond mining and processing operations contin- ued to perform ahead of plan at its Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho in the June quarter, its second quarter of operations, even though mining was restricted pre- dominantly to the lower-margin sections of the kimberlite pipe, including the northern and neck zones. Mothae produced 6 349 carats in the quarter for an H1-2019 total of 13 267 carats, 36 % ahead of the H1-2019 plan. This was due to the efficiency of the new 1,1 Mt/a plant and higher-than-planned recovered grades fromweathered material of 2,39 cpht for the quarter and 2,42 cpht for H1-2019. Large diamond recoveries during the reporting period included two +50 carat stones, including a 126-carat diamond, the largest gem-quality recovery from Mothae to date. Production from Mothae included rare Type IIa diamonds, as well as Type IIb diamonds. Cash operating costs for H1 2019 were US$12,56/tonne, 14 % better than plan. This, combined with the H1 sales and clos- ing inventories, delivered positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amor- tisation of US$1,1 million for H1-2019. Mining is on track to transition to the higher-margin diamond zones in the south- ern pit following further good progress made during the quarter in raising the wall of the new main 500 000 m 3 water dam (Dam 4). The increased height of the dam wall has enabled the dewatering of the southern pit to commence, with this water

being pumped into Dam 4 for storage and later use in the processing plant. As a result, mining and processing of higher-margin kimberlite material from the southern pit will commence early in Q3-2019 and con- tinue throughout 2019. Since reporting its June quarterly results, Lucapa has announced the recov-

Teranga announces Golden Hill drill programme Teranga Gold Corporation, listed on the TSX, has announced an extensive drilling and exploration programme during the second half of 2019 at Golden Hill, an advanced- stage exploration project that has delivered multiple near-surface and high-grade gold discoveries over the last two years. Teranga owns 100 % of Golden Hill, which is located within the central part of the Houndé green- stone belt, a highly mineralised gold zone in south-west Burkina Faso, that is currently home to three operating gold mines.

Golden Hill’s budget for drilling and exploration in the second half of 2019 is estimated to be at least US$5 million and will be financed by the Golden Hill tranche of the Taurus debt facility. This US$25‑million tranche is intended to advance the project through the feasibility stage of development. Paul Chawrun, Teranga’s Chief Operating Officer, stated, “Our initial mineral resource estimate, announced in February 2019, provided a solid base from which to grow Golden Hill and reaffirmed our interpreta-

August 2019  MODERN MINING  5