Modern Mining March 2016

MINING News

Yaramoko heads for second quarter commissioning advanced well, with the underground contractor, African Underground Mining Services (AUMS), delivering several months of above plan development rates. Total development meterage stood at 1 237 m as at the end of January against a planned level of 972 m. The ramp had advanced 610 m from the portal and level develop- ment was advancing on four levels, namely the 5270, 5253, 5236 and 5219 levels.

for the raise boring contractor, Murray & Roberts, are well advanced. All equipment associated with the final installation of the ventilation fans is on site. Construction of the surface mine infra- structure, including workshops, offices and back-up power station, remain on schedule. The surface settling ponds are complete and the recycling of under- ground water has commenced. Construction of the processing plant by the lump sum EPC contractor, the DRA/ Group Five Joint Venture, is approximately 80 % complete. Since the last update, key mechani- cal packages such as the thickener, kiln, screens, cyclone pack, agitators, carbon transfer pumps, reagent mixing and crusher plant have been received on site and installed. The Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) tanks had been erected to their full height by the end of January with top of tank steel also in place.  Pangolin updates on Malatswae Pangolin Diamonds Corp, listed on the TSX-V, has provided an update on its Malatswae diamond project, located 105 km south-east of the Karowe diamond mine of Lucara in Botswana. The most recent results are from the MTS grid where pyrope garnets with near- source features were previously reported. Following on these initial results, an addi- tional 78 soil samples from the MTS grid have been confirmed to contain kimberlite indicator minerals. Pyrope garnet has been visually-con- firmed in 62 of the 78 grid samples and ranges from 0,4-1,0 mm in maximum dimension. Pyrope garnets with near- source surface features are present in 55 of the 62 samples, with 12 of those samples having four or more garnets with near- source features. “These latest results continue to build upon previous data for the MTS grid that suggest that undiscovered kimberlites are present within the MTS grid area,” comments Pangolin’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Leon Daniels. 

Reporting on its Yaramoko gold project in Burkina Faso, Canada’s Roxgold Inc says that approximately US$64 million of the US$110,8 million capital estimate has been spent to date and the project remains on budget. The overall construction pro- gramme is approximately 75 % complete and on schedule and project commission- ing remains on target for Q2 2016. “We are very pleased with the progress on the project in recent months,” com- ments Roxgold’s President and CEO, John Dorward. “With a number of important infrastructure works now complete, the team is focusing on underground devel- opment and the start of commissioning activities.” During the month of December 2015, the underground mine access infrastruc- ture was completed with the Armtec tunnel installed and the boxcut backfilled. Underground development has

Tanzanian Royalty. “It is the opinion of man- agement that in time the gold price will rise to at least US$800 higher than it was at the time of the pour.” The pilot CIC process plant is in the process of being de-commissioned and assimilated into a more flexible CIL process plant designed with an initial throughput of 45 000 tonnes of mineralised material per month. The company is in the process of com- pleting a Feasibility Study (FS) with a view to targeting full-scale commercial gold pro- duction in the second half of this year.  Since the last update, the deposit has been cross-cut at the above mentioned four levels, exposing the 55 Zone vein. Roxgold says it is encouraged by what has been observed here with the orebody and thickness consistent with that of the block model. Initial chip sampling of the crosscuts indicates that ore grades are also consistent with expectations. The vent raise contractor, Bauer Drilling, is on site and has completed the pilings for the first vent raise. Initial site works

First gold poured at Buckreef project in Tanzania Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation, listed on the TSX and NYSE, reports that its 55 %-owned Buckreef redevelopment gold project has successfully completed its first gold pour.

The company notes that the timing and amount of the pour of gold was not a decision of management but was done in response to a request made by the Deputy Minister of Energy and Minerals of Tanzania. “As a show of reasonable willingness to cooperate on this non-contract item, we did what we preferred not to do – pour prematurely to proper market price,” says

Celebrating the first gold pour at the Buckreef redevelopment gold project (photo: Tanzanian Royalty).

16  MODERN MINING  March 2016