Modern Mining March 2018

MINING News

Sharp increase in head grade at Barberton Mines

mining block. It is envisaged that the strike length of the MRC orebody on the 358 platform will be 75 m with a high-grade core of 40 m, extrapolated from the 272 platform above. These platforms underpin Fairview´s high-grade production and mining flexibility, particularly for ore haulage, development waste disposal and improv- ing the mining face availability for the next two years, during which development of the next platform below the 358 will be completed. Production from the MRC ore- body will be further enhanced with the completion of the sub-vertical shaft in two years´ time. Regarding the Barberton Tailings Retreatment Plant (BTRP), Pan African says the construction of the regrind mill is proceeding according to schedule with commissioning anticipated in the last week of April 2018. On commissioning of the regrind mill, production at the BTRP is expected to increase to approximately 21 000 ounces per annum. At the Evander mines complex, construction of the Elikhulu Tailings Retreatment Plant is progressing ahead of schedule with first gold expected in August 2018. Ramp up to full production of approximately 55 000 ounces per annum is expected to take no longer than two months, after which Elikhulu is estimated to produce gold at an all-in sustaining cost of production of below US$650/oz. In conjunction with the Evander Tailings Retreatment Plant, these two operations In conjunction with this, Orezone visited a number of operating mines in West Africa that currently mine oxide material using contractors employing small 30-t to 50-t haulage trucks in order to determine effi- ciencies, costs and suitability of adopting their practices to mine the Bomboré ‘free digging’ oxides. As previously disclosed, the results of the Soutex review concluded that the Bomboré flowsheet could be simplified through the elimination of the heap leach circuit, which should result in a simpler process opera- tion. Under the simplified process, the focus would be on the ‘free dig’material only. This would exclude the Lower Transition mate- rial which does require some drill and blast and crushing in order to be processed, but

The Barberton Mines complex (photo: Pan African Resources).

In its latest operational update, Pan African Resources reports that the average head grade for the Barberton Mines complex, which includes the Fairview, Sheba and Consort mines, has risen from an average of 8,7 g/t during July to December 2017 to 11,5 g/t which was recorded in the February 2018 production month. This 32 % increase in head grade is predominantly as a result of mining high-grade ore at the 272 platform since January 2018. The latest on-reef develop- ment samples taken in the 272 platform recorded an average grade of 99,2 g/t (ranging from 2,2 g/t to 1 320 g/t) over a

mineralised width of 3,36 m along a strike length of 24 m. This confirms that the high-grade areas of this mining block are now in production. This high-grade core of the 11-block MRC orebody is encapsu- lated within a 75 m mineralised envelope with the remainder of the mineralisation retrieving an average grade of 10,5 g/t. Furthermore, face sampling of the on-reef development, taken of the min- eralised 11-block MRC orebody at the 358 platform, resulted in an average grade of 45,7 g/t over a mineralised width of 2 m, confirming that the on-reef development has reached the high-grade section of this Previous studies for the Bomboré oxide mineral resource were based on combined heap leach and CIL processing and mining of all oxide material, including the harder more competent Lower Transition material at the bottom of the pits. In mid-2017 Orezone commenced a detailed review of all work completed to that date to determine whether the prior 2015 Bomboré FS could be simplified. The company contracted Soutex, a special- ised metallurgical consulting firm based in Quebec, to review all metallurgical test work, supervise the completion of certain additional metallurgical test work and assist in developing a revised flowsheet.

New Feasibility Study underway on Bomboré Orezone Gold Corporation, listed on the TSX-V, says that it expects the new Feasibility Study (FS) on its 90 %-owned Bomboré deposit in Burkina Faso to be completed in late Q2, 2018. Launched in January this year, the FS is being undertaken by a team led by LycopodiumMinerals Canada with the work being based on the January 2017 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE).

The company has also contracted P&E Mining Consultants Inc to complete an updated MRE which will encompass all of the 2017 drill results and will also model the newly identified higher grade zones within the existing oxide pit shells using separate mineralisation domains.

4  MODERN MINING  March 2018