Modern Mining March 2018

MINING News

The Elikhulu Tailings Retreatment Plant is on course to produce its first gold in August this year (photo: Pan African Resources). are expected to produce more than 70 000 ounces per annum.

into the 358 platform confirms the geo- logical continuity of Fairview´s 11-block high-grade orebody. “These developments, along with prog- ress at the BTRP and Elikhulu, provide Pan African with far greater certainty of high- quality gold ounce production.” 

hopper and from there direct fed to a single stage ball mill, eliminating the crusher, the scrubber, stockpiles and reclaim systems and all associated equipment and convey- ors. The majority of the plant feed material is already below the grind target of 150 micron, resulting in a low apparent bond work index for the mill feed. This combined with the low abrasion index of the ore results in a low power draw and low grindingmedia consumption. Downstreamwill be a pre-leach tank and 6-stage CIL tanks providing a 24-hour leach residence time. Gold recovery will then be by standard ZADRA elution and electrowin- ning. A tailings thickener will be employed to conserve water and reduce overall cya- nide consumption. Barberton Mines, we have successfully dealt with the key underground chal- lenges at Fairview´s 11-block and we are on track to re-establish BTRP´s production profile at approximately 21 000 ounces per annum. Mining over the past two months at the 272 platform and the development

Commenting on the operational update, Cobus Loots, CEO, stated: “Pan African is focused on sustainable lower cost gold production from our asset portfolio. After a challenging period at this only accounts for approximately 7 % of the total mineral resource tonnes in the 2017 MRE. In preparing for the FS, Lycopodium worked closely with Soutex and reviewed the simplified flowsheet concept and con- cluded that this was the preferred option to examine in the FS from both a capital and operating cost viewpoint. Site visits have also been undertaken by the FS consultants and all existing data reviewed. Based on these visits, the data reviewed, the Soutex review, and the recently completed metal- lurgical test work, several key opportunities will now be examined in the FS. These include simplified front-end pro- cessing through the process plant. Saprolitic plant feed would be direct dumped to a feed

Construction of the Tailing Storage Facility (TSF) in phases over the mine life will be examined. Previous flowsheets and plant design for Bomboré necessitated the full construction of the TSF at the front-end thereby increasing the front-end capital cost. Contract mining using low technology 30-t haulage units, currently used in several free-dig operations in West Africa, will also be considered. “Our FS for the Bomboré project is very much on track,” said Patrick Downey, Orezone’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The reviews and work completed over the past 10 months have led us to a simplified process flowsheet.We expect that this simplification will confirm Bomboré as a compelling project.” 

March 2018  MODERN MINING  5