Modern Mining March 2018

GOLD

development at New Luika is approximately US$2 600. “Some of our peers are running at three times this,” he says. The two orebodies currently being exploited by the underground mine are Bauhinia Creek and Luika, with the portal providing access to both being located in the Bauhinia Creek pit. The mining method used is Long Hole Open Stoping (LHOS) with cemented rockfill in the Bauhinia Creek section of the mine. The Luika section is in the process of converting to LHOS after originally being mined using the cut and fill method. This removes the requirement for backfilling with cement and is expected to deliver savings of US$3,6 million a year. The underground mining is being under- taken on an owner-mining basis by Shanta using a fleet of mobile machines supplied by Sandvik. Currently, about 220 people work in the underground mine (although the total directly-employed labour complement at New Luika is about 600.) Around 98 % of the employees are Tanzanian, with 44 % of them coming from surrounding villages. The GM of New Luika is Honest Mrema, who has 20 years’ experience in open pit and underground operations. In tandem with the development of the underground mine, Shanta has upgraded much of the surface infrastructure at New Luika. This has included the installation of a 7,5 MW HFO power station (which has replaced a rental plant), a new tailings storage facility and a mass gravity dam on the Luika River upstream of the mine with a capacity of 350 million litres. In terms of a revised Mine Plan adopted by Shanta in March last year, New Luika will pro- duce 359 000 to 500 000 ounces of gold from

Left: The New Luika mine is located 120 km north-west of Mbeya in Tanzania’s Lupa goldfield. Below left: Shanta has thus far completed around 7,5 km of development for the underground mine and produced over 250 000 tonnes of ore. Below: The underground mining is being undertaken on an owner-mining basis by Shanta using a fleet of mobile machines supplied by Sandvik.

steady-state levels,” says Zurrin. “The develop- ment was undertaken in-house with all the key milestones being achieved on time and within budget, which is a tribute to the skills which we have within Shanta. We’ve now completed around 7,5 km of development and produced over 250 000 tonnes of ore at an average grade of more than 6 g/t since the project was initi- ated. The underground mine is designed to produce up to 45 000 tonnes/month but in December we hit 50 000 tonnes.” He adds that the cost per metre of lateral

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