Modern Mining June 2018

WEST AFRICA

Resource base at Wahgnion gold project grows by 33 %

TSX-listed Teranga Gold Corporation has announced an updated mineral resource estimate for its Wahgnion gold development project in Burkina Faso, now in the early stages of construction. The

new resource represents a 33 % increase from the 1,8 million contained ounces of gold previously announced in the feasibility study released in September last year.

B ased on drill results from a 73 000‑m in- fill drill programme completed in 2017, the updated combined measured and indicated mineral resource is now 50,5 Mt at a grade of 1,51 g/t for 2,4 mil- lion contained ounces of gold. Teranga expects to release an updated mineral reserve estimate and related NI 43‑101 technical report for Wahgnion in the third quarter of 2018. “Based on these excellent results, we are targeting a conversion rate of more than 50 % of these additional 600 000 ounces of mineral resources into reserves, exceeding our guidance range of between 175 000 and 350 000 ounces of gold,” says Richard Young, Teranga’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “With financing in place and major construction advancing, we are on our way to building a mid-tier gold producer in West Africa.” Wahgnion, which will be the company’s sec- ond mine (its first is the Sabodala gold mine in Senegal), is expected to increase Teranga’s annualised production by 50 % to between 300 000 and 350 000 ounces. The first gold pour is expected by the end of 2019. “The 2017 drill programme and subsequent resource modelling has identified areas within the reserve deposits for a future follow-up drill programme, providing an opportunity to further increase reserves. In addition, we will continue to focus on a number of highly prospective exploration targets within truck- ing distance of the plant in order to further extend Wahgnion’s mine life. Ultimately, we think Wahgnion has the potential to have a mine life in the 15 to 20 year range as we continue to develop these targets,” said Paul Chawrun, Chief Operating Officer.

Layout of the Wahgnion project. The permitted licence area is 89 km 2 in size while Teranga’s total regional exploration land package covers over 1 000 km 2 . Construction at Wahgnion is on track. The plant design is complete and detailed engineer- ing is on schedule to support site construction. Major construction of the processing facility – with Lycopodium as the EPCM contractor – is underway, with structural concrete of the leach circuit and mill foundations hav- ing commenced in May. The development of site infrastructure is also moving forward on schedule: the water harvest dam is complete, permanent camp facilities are near completion and preparation of the mine services area, site access roads and tailings management facility are progressing well. Wahgnion was acquired in October 2016 as part of Teranga’s acquisition of ASX-listed Gryphon Minerals. The fully permitted, high-grade, open-pit project is located in the south-west of Burkina Faso. According to the feasibility study, Wahgnion will be mined – on an owner-operated model – by way of conventional open-pit techniques using drill and blast with material movement by hydraulic excavators and trucks. The project scale suits 110- to 140-tonne class excavators in a backhoe configuration matched to 50-tonne class mining haul trucks operating at 5‑m bench heights. Mining operations will emulate

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36  MODERN MINING  June 2018