Modern Mining June 2019

REGIONAL FOCUS: WEST AFRICA

design modelled after the Sabodala facility. Wahgnion’s open-pit measured and indi- cated mineral resources are estimated to total 2,44 Moz with inferred resources of 0,24 Moz. The total proven and probable mineral reserves within the pits total 31,1 Mt grading 1,61 g/t Au for 1,61 Moz, based on a gold price of US$1 250/oz. The initial four deposits to be mined are Nogbele, Fourkoura, Stinger and Samavogo. Nogbele, which contains approxi- mately half of the gold mineral reserves, is located adjacent to the process plant while Fourkoura, Stinger and Samavogo are located

already operates the highly successful Sabodala mine in Senegal, which notched up a record quarterly gold production of 71 946 ounces in the first quarter of this year, following three consecutive years of record gold production from 2016 to 2018. Sabodala and Wahgnion could eventually be joined by a third asset, Golden Hill, also in Burkina Faso. Golden Hill is Teranga’s most advanced exploration project with an indicated and inferred resource of over a million ounces at about 2 g/t already in place. The company believes that it can add to these ounces as it continues to drill the property.

Aerial view of the Wahgnion property. Mining activities have been ongoing since August 2018, with material sourced from the Nangolo and Nogbele North pits.

The classification section of the processing plant.

Located in south-western Burkina Faso, 510 km from the capital, Ouagadougou, and close to the border with Côte d’Ivoire, Wahgnion (previously known as Banfora) was acquired by Teranga in 2016 as part of its acquisition of Australian junior miner, Gryphon Minerals. Although Gryphon considered developing the project using a conventional carbon-in-leach (CIL) flowsheet, it later (in response to a weakening gold price) reconfigured it as a low- capex heap leach operation. Teranga has reverted to the original plan and Wahgnion is being built as a multi-pit, CIL gold operation, with a plant

June 2019  MODERN MINING  27