Modern Mining January 2023

Akobo Minerals continues rapid development of Segele Mine

TSX-listed Canadian mining company, Orezone Gold, which is operating the open pit Bomboré Gold Mine in Burkina Faso, has announced the appointments of Rob Henderson as vice president, techni cal services, and Kevin MacKenzie as vice president, corporate development & inves tor relations. CEO Patr ick Downey, said, “I am extremely pleased that Henderson and MacKenzie have joined our team. Both are well-regarded industry profession als with significant worldwide experience in management, operations, exploration, capital markets and M&A. Henderson is a proven mining executive with exten sive global operations and development experience including West Africa as VP technical services for Kinross Gold. He will lead Orezone’s technical teams, ensur ing ongoing operational excellence, and Ethiopian gold exploration and boutique mining company, Akobo Minerals, says the company is ramping up its activities to develop the Segele Gold Mine. The surface mining operations are underway, the process plant parts have started arriving and many designs are near ing completion, the company said. The mining contractor IW Mining has made significant progress and reached a depth of 9 m in the incline shaft entrance, with only five additional metres depth needed to reach the depth where under ground mining will begin. The first blast is expected to be completed within days and the development of safety procedures is nearing completion. As the intensity of mining activities increases, IWMining has begun recruitment of local staff, and additional earthmoving equipment is being sourced. The gold processing plant design and fabrication process is close to completion with only a few minor parts remaining. Plant contractor Solo Resources has successfully navigated the challenging processes of timely ship ping from South Africa, Canada, Australia and China. A total of 19 shipments are on their way to site, the company stated. An Ethiopian civil engineering firm is in the process of completing geotechnical investigations and foundation designs for

Above: The incline shaft entrance excavation has reached a depth of 9 m. Right: The ball mill and other major equipment for the crushing circuit have arrived on-site. the processing plant. Once the foun dations are in place, construction and commissioning will be supervised by Solo Resources and Akobo Minerals. The company has also recruited experienced processing plant spe cialist, Manie Nienaber from South Africa, to lead the construction, commissioning and operation of the processing plant. 

Orezone enhances management team

provide technical and management leadership as we advance Bomboré through the p l anned major sulphide expansion. MacKenzie has a strong technical and capital mar kets background, most recently as a leading pre cious metals analyst for Canaccord Genuity, with

Orezone enhances management team.

global experience in asset evaluation. His skillsets and experience will be invaluable as we expand our growth strategy in the region and look to grow our business into a multi-asset, multi-jurisdictional, high qual ity mid-tier gold producer.” Henderson is a global mining indus try leader with international experience in operating, building and acquiring mineral properties. He has worked in the indus

try for 35 years for Great Panther Mining, Amerigo Resources, Kinross Gold, DeBeers and Rand Mines and provided engineer ing services to international mining clients while with SNC Lavalin and Hatch. MacKenzie has over 15 years of capital markets and industry experience. Prior to joining Orezone, MacKenzie held the posi tion of MD: metals & mining equity analyst at Canaccord Genuity. 

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