Modern Mining March 2020

GOLD

contracted date for first gold being January 2021.” Gold mineralisation at Yaouré has been subdi- vided into two main zones: the CMA Zone and the Yaouré Zone. Pre-stripping of the CMA pit by the construction team has begun by removing the back fill material from the old pit. The mining contract has been awarded to EPSA International SA, who will establish on site between August and October this year. Mining will commence in November. “First ore will be sourced from the old heap leach pads while the CMA pit is unloaded, given that the previous opera- tion backfilled the pit when they mined the Yaouré Zone pit. Plant commissioning and ramp-up will com- mence in November 2020 through to February 2021. Meanwhile, Grove says an operational readiness team is being established, with the GM of Sissingué, Merlin Thomas, taking the role of GM at Yaouré and Michael Cardinaels being promoted to GM of Sissingué. In the next few months, Perseus’ target is to reach a few more project milestones. The release of rooms in Perseus’ self-performed camp is due for the end of this month, while SMP (structural mechanical piping) and E&I (electrical and instrumentation) contractors will mobilise on site. Meanwhile, the TSF HDPE lining will also be completed shortly. Managing contests Highlighting some of the challenges thus far, Grove says the interaction between a major 3D seismic exploration programme and a major construction project was one of the contests on site. This was sidestepped by diverting all earthmoving equipment on the TSF to other jobs for 10 days. However, this has since been completed. As with any major mining project, managing

Project

followed by Ball milling, gravity and CIL (carbon- in-leach) recovery. The processing plant has been designed to process approximately 3,3-million tonnes per annum (mtpa). First gold In view of this, the project remains on course to pour its first gold at the end of this year. “The stretch target of first gold by 2020 is achievable,” says Grove, “with

Above left: An aerial view of the camp site at the end of February this year.

Below: An aerial view of the plant site at Yaouré.

March 2020  MODERN MINING  19