Modern Mining January 2016

MINING News

Maiden ore reserves declared for Yanfolila

Update on BMR Mining’s Kabwe tailings project In our October issue on page 5, we pub- lished a news item entitled ‘Peer Review vali- dates process route for Kabwe project’. This stated that BMR Mining, which is developing the Kabwe treatment project in Zambia, had entered into an agreement with Sable Zinc Kabwe, a subsidiary of Glencore, in respect of land adjacent to BMR’s tailings dump and certain key items of equipment. The inten- tion was that BMR Mining would lease the land from Sable Zinc Kabwe and site its pilot plant on it. While our news story was correct at the time of going to print, BMR Mining has sub- sequently decided to construct its plant on land owned solely by Enviro Processing Ltd, Kabwe (EPL), its wholly owned subsidiary, and we have been asked to point this out to readers. As a result, BMR Mining will not be proceeding with the leasing of land and equipment from Sable Zinc Kabwe.  AIM-listed Hummingbird Resources has announced its maiden ore reserves at the Yanfolila gold project in Mali. The Reserve Report is based on the resources at the Komana East andWest pits as these will be mined first (Phase 1). The project has significant resources at other nearby deposits including Guiren West, Gonka, Sanioumale East and Sanioumale West which will be mined at a later stage (Phase 2). The report puts probable reserves at 6,82 Mt at 3,03 g/t for 665 600 oz Au. This is an increase of 118 600 oz Au from the in- pit mineral resource inventory reported in the March 2015 Optimisation Study mine plan of 547 000 oz Au, with the grade increasing by 15 %, using a US$1 100 pit shell. According to Hummingbird, 100 % of in-pit indicated resources have converted into reserves. Comments Dan Betts, CEOof Humming­ bird Resources: “Achieving a maiden ore reserve at Yanfolila is a significant mile- stone for the company. With an increased gold grade of 3,03 g/t, it confirms Yanfolila as a quality, high-grade, low cost project. “We have increased the size of our pro- cessing plant to process up to 1,24 Mt/a, as well as processing harder, fresh ore types. The ability to process greater volumes of

The new process flow sheet for the Yanfolila project.

fresh ore has allowed us to expand and deepen the open pits of our maiden ore reserve, resulting in more recoverable gold. Together with a more flexible operat- ing plan, it also gives us scope to further expand our ore reserves from our existing deposits. The 24 % increase in throughput will also significantly enhance annual gold production. “Additionally, the plant has been designed with the ability to further increase capacity to 1,5 Mt/a. With so many indicated ounces outside the mine plan at nearby deposits and high-grade under- ground potential at Gonka, the company believes there remains significant produc- tion upside at Yanfolila.” The project has undergone an extensive amount of development since the last tech- nical update given in June 2015. This work has focused on maximising the returns of the project, an ability to withstand a sus- tained low gold price environment and satisfy the independent technical consul- tants undertaking due diligence on behalf of Taurus Funds Management. Announcing the maiden ore reserves is the first step to finalising an updated

mine schedule and economic analysis for the project. Increasing the plant capacity to 1,24 Mt/a from the previously reported 1 Mt/a (Optimisation Study, March 2015) has increased annual gold production and improved the ability of the plant to process fresh ore material. The processing route has beenmodified to handle greater volumes of freshmaterial and now includes a conventional two- stage crushing circuit. Significant work has been done on ore stockpiling to enhance the mine schedule. Average recoveries show 94 % recovery in oxide, 92 % in tran- sitional and 91 % in fresh material.  Hummingbird says that detailed due diligence on the project and technical improvements have taken longer than was anticipated by the company – a func- tion of the revised plant flow sheet and economic assumptions in a declining gold price environment. It stresses, however, that the project itself continues to improve in all areas and that the construction time remains constant. The extended due dili- gence period will have a knock-on effect to first gold pour and this will now most likely occur during 2017. 

6  MODERN MINING  January 2016