Modern Mining January 2015

MINING News

Tschudi enters the final straight

(Proprietary) Ltd, a Namibian empower- ment group. For 2015, Otjikoto is expected to pro- duce between 140 000 and 150 000 ounces of gold at a cash operating cost of approximately US$500 per ounce and all in sustaining costs of approximately US$700 per ounce. Once the plannedmill expansion is com- pleted in the third quarter of 2015, B2Gold expects annual gold production to increase to approximately 200 000 ounces in 2016 and 2017. Otjikoto’s gold production will also be enhanced by the development of its Wolfshag zone, located adjacent to the main Otjikoto pit. The company expects to complete an updated indicated resource study in the first quarter of 2015 along with an updated mine plan by the end of 2015 which will evaluate open-pit and under- ground mining at Wolfshag. Namibia is not known as a significant gold producer, with – for many years – only one active gold mine, Navachab, in the country. Navachab, which produced just over 60 000 ounces of gold in 2013, was originally owned by AngloGold Ashanti but was acquired by QKR Corporation last year. Otjikoto is a much bigger operation and will result in Namibia’s total annual gold production being substantially increased. B2Gold is a Vancouver-based gold pro- ducer with four mines around the world: El Limon and La Libertad in Nicaragua, the Masbate mine in the Philippines and, of course, Otjikoto. The company is pro- jecting to produce approximately 540 000 ounces of gold in 2015 and approximately 610 000 ounces of gold in 2017.  anticipated to be finalised in the first quarter of 2015, to allow for the seam- less development of the joint operation. The equity component of the mine financing was successfully raised as part of the A$25,5 million capital rais- ing undertaken with Ichor Coal and Coal Development Holding during October 2014. Universal Coal remains on track to deliver this operation to the market dur- ing 2015, having successfully developed and commissioned the Kangala colliery during the 2013/2014 year. The com- bined operations will have an installed capacity in excess of 6,25 Mt/a of pro- cessing capacity, with expected ROM of 5 Mt/a. 

Weatherly International, whose shares are quoted on London’s AIM, says its Tschudi copper mining project in north- ern Namibia is continuing to make good progress. Comments company Chairman John Bryant: “Tschudi is on track to com- mence production in the second quarter of this year. I must congratulate our UK and Namibia teams on the progress they have made.” Tschudi is an open-pit mine which will use heap leaching, solvent extraction and electro-winning to produce high quality copper cathodes. The mining reserve is 22,7 Mt at 0,86 % Cu, sufficient to support an annual production of 17 000 t Cu over a mine life of 11 years. Mining at Tschudi has been underway since July 2014 and ore continues to be stockpiled in readiness for the crushing plant to come on line. On 19 December, 2 000 tonnes of ore were run through the crushing and agglomeration plant as a pre-commis- sioning test with the plant achieving the desired throughput rates. A second 2 500 tonnes was crushed and agglomerated on 2 January this year, this time focusing on achieving the required agglomerate qual- ity under full throughput. This resulted in some minor modifications that have now been completed. Leach Panels One and Two are close to completion (as of early January) and will be ready to receive ore once the crushing

plant is in operation. The raw water and raffinate ponds have been completed and were filled with water over the Christmas break. On 17 December, the first acid road tankers arrived from the Rössing uranium mine and began unloading into the newly commissioned acid storage tank, with approximately 650 tonnes delivered. Originally, acid was to be sourced from the nearby Tsumeb smelter but construc- tion of the smelter’s acid plant has been delayed. As an interimmove,Weatherly has signed a one-year contract with Rössing Uranium to import acid through the port ofWalvis Bay. Imported prices are currently lower than those offered by the smelter and, as a result, the contract (with Dundee Precious Metals) is being renegotiated. On 14 December, Nampower (the Namibian power utility) signed off on the high voltage installation, enabling the site to switch to the main grid supply when ready and replacing the temporary gener- ating sets that have been used for much of the commissioning work. Recruitment of theWeatherly workforce is complete and operators are currently undergoing training under the supervision of the specialist commissioning group, PPM Global. Commissioning of the SX-EW will com- mence as soon as there are sufficient stocks of pregnant leach solution available at the required grade. 

Heap leach pad construction at Tschudi in November last year.

January 2015  MODERN MINING  7