Modern Mining June 2019

systems completed. Over 4 million hours had been worked on site without a single lost time injury being recorded. The proj- ect has now surpassed peak construction with demobilisation of key contractors either completed or underway. Commenting on the progress in Teranga’s Q1-2019 report, Paul Chawrun, Teranga’s COO, said: “I am pleased to report that we expect to begin commis- sioning the processing plant in the third quarter and production ramp up during the fourth quarter. Based on our progress to date, we expect Wahgnion will produce between 30 000 and 40 000 ounces of gold in 2019, which exceeds the original esti- mate of 18 000 ounces released in the October 2018 technical report.” Richard Young, Teranga’s President and CEO, added that the first quarter had seen the company making meaningful progress towards its vision of building a multi-asset, mid-tier gold producer in West Africa. “By year end, we will have two gold mines in operation capable of producing between 300 000 and 350 000 ounces in 2020 and generating strong free cash flows,” he said. “As well, Golden Hill continues to show that it has the poten- tial to be our third gold mine. In less than two years, we have advanced it from an early-stage exploration project to an ini- tial mineral resource estimate. Going forward, our priority is to increase the mineral resources estimate and advance Golden Hill into the feasibility stage of development.” Photos courtesy of Teranga Gold Corporation

construction materials required. The principal water storage facility for the operations will be the Nangolo pit and the water harvest dam (WHD). The WHD is located between the permanent accom- modation village and the processing plant within a valley that has a relatively flat floor and sides estimated to have a gradi- ent of between 5 % and 15 %. The WHD reservoir will be pumped into the Nangolo pit to reduce losses. Water collected will be pumped back to the plant to supply make-up water for tailings slurry and to supply primary water requirements. Site-wide electrical power require- ments for infrastructure, mining, and processing will be sourced from an on- site heavy fuel oil (HFO) power station. Emergency power from a standby 300 kVA diesel powered generator will be provided in the process plant. Consideration has been given to future interconnection with the Sonabel (Burkina Faso national elec- tricity supplier) network. Construction of Wahgnion is being managed by an owner’s team with respon- sibility for delivering site infrastructure, including tailings, mine site services and initiation of mine operations. Lycopodium is responsible for the plant construction under an EPCM contract. As at the end of Q1-2019, the plant was very well advanced, with 98 % of concrete poured, 70 % of structural steel installed including 35 % of mechanical equipment (including both the semi- autogenous grinding and ball mills) and 15 % of the electrical/instrumentation

June 2019  MODERN MINING  29