Modern Mining January 2021

GOLD

stage to development and mining is a well under- stood pathway. “Major gold mining companies such a Barrick, Anglogold Ashanti, IAMGold, B2Gold and Resolute Mining have been operating major gold mines such as Loula, Yatela, Sadiola, Morilla and Syama success- fully for many years. The reason Mali ticks is that it has a well-established mining culture that is sup- ported by good mining regulations and access to some of the most prospective ground in West Africa,” says Aylward. Mali is currently the third largest gold producer on the African continent, behind South Africa and Ghana. Continued exploration success and mine development, adds Aylward, has seen Mali’s estimated gold reserves exceed 820 tonnes, and it is expected that modern exploration will continue to discover more gold in the country. Carl Esprey, executive director of Contango Holdings, agrees that Mali remains an investment destination of choice for gold investors, becoming the fastest growing gold producer in the world and the third biggest gold producer in Africa in the process. “It is fair to say that there are multiple multi-million ounce deposits mined by many large international companies like Barrick, IAMGold, Anglogold Ashanti and Resolute, among others, that position Mali as an investment destination of choice for gold investors,” says Esprey. Bert Monro, CEO of Cora Gold, has no doubt that there are a number of reasons for this but for him there are two key ones: “Firstly, it’s the geology; Mali has had a number of world class gold discoveries in the past and I am sure it will have more in the future. Secondly, it’s the people factor; after 30 years of commercial gold mining in the country, Mali is a mature jurisdiction to build and operate a mine with an excellent local team,” says Monro.

ongoing situation in the north and far-east of the country, where the Mali military, French support and UN forces have been focusing their efforts to restore stability. Aylward is of the view that the risks of operating in any country should be assessed by each company, and at Kodal they believe their areas of operation in the southern part of Mali, a peaceful, farming region, are secure and there are no security issues to worry about. “In terms of political risk, I think it is clear that the mining industry has continued through recent

Drilling at Sanankoro in April 2020.

Contango’s Garalo permit occupies 62,5 km² in the Sikasso region of southern Mali, 200 km south-east of the capital Bamako and close to the Guinea border.

Commenting on the risk factor, Monro says Cora’s Sanankoro proj- ect has not been affected in any way by the current political situation. “We continued to operate the entire period of the transition of power as did others in the country and I have already had the chance to meet the new mining minster in person when I was in Mali before Christmas,” says Monro. According to Esprey, political issues in Mali have been confined to the north of the country. The government, he says, has remained steadfast in promoting the gold industry, and the sector has subse- quently been not affected over the past two decades. The same view is shared by Aylward, who says that Mali has an

January 2021  MODERN MINING  31