Modern Mining January 2020

TOP PROJECTS

AFRICA’S TOP MINING PROJECTS In our regular Top Mining Projects feature we look at projects distinguished by their size, innovation or pioneering spirit. This year we have selected four that meet these criteria in four different African countries. The commodities covered are mineral sands, copper, coal and gold.

T he first project we feature is the Toliara min- eral sands project in Madagascar, which is being developed by Base Resources, which also owns and operates the successful Kwale mineral sands mine in Kenya. A recently completed Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) has confirmed Toliara as a world-class project and Base is planning a final investment decision in September this year. If it does go ahead, Toliara will produce an average of 814 Kt of ilmenite, 55 kt of zircon and 7 kt of rutile annually over most of its initial 33-year life. Base is proposing a staged development of Toliara, with Stage 1 – which would establish a 13 Mt/a mining operation – having a capex of US$442 million. Stage 2 would see an increase in production to 19 Mt/a and involve a further invest- ment of US$69 million. In our second ‘Top Project’ we look at the ‘Starter Project’ of Khoemacau Copper Mining , which will re-establish Botswana as a copper producer and which represents a nearly US$400 million invest- ment in the country. The project is now moving into its peak construction phase and is currently on course to start producing concentrate in Q2-2021. It will eventually ramp up to a production level of around 160 kt per year of concentrate, containing approximately 60 000 tonnes of copper and, as a nice bonus, 1,9 Moz of silver. The ‘Starter Project’ encompasses the develop- ment of a highly mechanised underground mine at Khoemacau’s Zone 5 deposit. The ore will be treated

in an existing concentrator at Boseto, which is within easy trucking range of Zone 5. The concentra- tor – which is being upgraded and expanded – was acquired several years ago by Khoemacau when it purchased the assets of the now defunct Boseto mine, originally developed by Australia’s Discovery Metals. Our third Top Project is Exxaro’s R3,3 billion Belfast coal mine in Mpumalanga, its first ‘green- field’ project since 2007. The company delivered the mine well ahead of schedule, with the first high- grade thermal coal bring produced in September last year, six months earlier than originally anticipated. The project maintained an unblemished safety record throughout the construction phase. Belfast has many high-tech features and, accord- ing to Exxaro, is South Africa’s first mine to have a “digital twin”. It is also notable for its involvement of local communities in both its construction and opera- tions. An estimated 4 706 jobs will be created over the life of mine which (allowing for the multiplier effect) will result in more than 15 500 beneficiaries. The final project we cover is the Yaouré open-pit gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire, currently under construc- tion by Perseus Mining. Being developed at a cost of US$265 million, Yaouré will be Perseus’s second mine in Côte d’Ivoire (its first is Sissingué) and will produce 215 koz/a of gold at an AISC of US$759/oz over the first five years of operation. Current mine life is 8,5 years but Perseus believes that this will very likely be extended given that it has a highly prospec- tive 360 km 2 land package in the area. 

Top projects

January 2020  MODERN MINING  27