Modern Mining June 2016

WEST AFRICA

annual gold production will be 276 000 ounces of gold a year at an operating cash cost of US$552 per ounce. Production in the first seven years, however, will average 350 000 ounces a year at a US$418/oz operating cash cost. The Fekola pit, which will ultimately be 320 m deep, is planned for development in a sequence of seven 150 to 250 m wide and 500 to 750 m long stages (cutbacks). The staged pit development strategy allows B2Gold to defer the waste mining requirements and bring forward the mining of high grade ore. It also mitigates the geological, geotechnical and economic risks for the project considering the 1,9 km length of the pit. The design of the future pit stages during the operations, especially the last two stages with higher production cost per ounce, can be adjusted progressively depending on the operational experience, exposed ground condi- tions and changes in economic conditions. The waste dump design is based on 120 m vertical lifts with 18 deg faces and 5 m berms, with dump location considerations based on minimising haulage, surface water drainage and area availability. B2Gold will be undertaking the open-pit mining in house using a mining fleet which will include – according to current planning – two (and later three) 200-t class shovels and

run-off during the 2016 rainy season) and con- struction has started on the process water and contact water dams. Currently, the construction force on site numbers around 700 workers from both B2Gold and contractors. To date, many of the major processing plant packages have been identified and purchase orders issued. Equipment already on order includes the SAG and ball mills, thicken- ers, cyclones, the primary crusher and tanks. During the first quarter of this year, B2Gold also signed a US$80,9 million equipment facil- ity with Caterpillar Financial which secures the funding for the mining fleet. The Fekola project is located within the Kayes Region of south-western Mali near the border with Senegal. It is situated about 40 km south of the city of Kéniéba and is 525 km by road from the Malian capital of Bamako, with the 480 km stretch from Bamako to Kéniéba being the new Millennium Highway. The project was acquired by B2Gold in 2014 after it merged with Papillon Resources, which had taken the project to pre-feasibility stage. Papillon, however, was by no means the first company to have held the project. The gold mineralisation in the area was first discovered in 1953 and subsequent explorers of the prop- erty – which hosts an orogenic-style deposit – included BRGM (1975-82) and Randgold (1998-2001). The project is being developed as an open- pit mine, where run-of-mine ore will be trucked to the plant, crushed, and then treated in a grinding circuit utilising conventional SAG and ball mills, and a carbon-in-pulp (CIP) recovery process. The mine plan is based on probable min- eral reserves of 49,2 Mt at an average grade of 2,35 g/t containing 3,72 Moz of gold at a strip- ping ratio of 4,5:1 to be mined over 9,5 years (with use of stockpiles extending the mine life to 12,5 years). Annual mined tonnage will total 32 Mt, using stockpiling to optimise head grade and gold production in the first seven years of the project. Over the life of mine, the average

The entry way to the new permanent camp accom- modation with 350-person capacity.

Crews worked through the night during the 56-hour mill foundation concrete pour.

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