Modern Mining May 2017

RARE EARTHS

on fast track to production

period was by open-pit methods although some underground mining was undertaken. “The total production was modest by mod- ern standards, with only around 5 000 tonnes of vein material being extracted over 30 years,” states Eales. “We’re aiming to produce roughly 5 000 tonnes a year – and ultimately twice this figure.” An interesting point is that Gakara will be producing a high-grade concentrate rather than

of production, we only have to mine and treat a fraction of the tonnages that other projects would require to get to the same point.” The deposit also lends itself to very simple, straightforward mining. “In our first mining area, Gasagwe, we’ll be manual bench min- ing in 1 m ‘steps’ to expose the veins in which the mineralisation is contained. The need for mechanised equipment is minimal and in fact the entire cost of our mining fleet – essentially just some TLBs and a tractor-trailer – is bud- geted at less than US$600 000. The mining will only take place from the outcrops at surface to a depth of about 30 to 50 m and no drilling and blasting will be required,” says Eales. He adds that the second deposit to be mined – Gashirwe West – will require underground extraction. “Here again, though, the proposed method is very simple – essentially it will involve the use of up-dip, room-and-pillar manual mining with access to the mining areas being provided by relatively short hand-dug adits driven into the hillsides. No expensive infrastructure such as shafts is needed.” The Gakara project is located in hilly terrain in Western Burundi and is roughly a 90-min- ute drive from the capital city, Bujumbura. The mineralisation at the site was discovered in the 1930s during the Belgian colonial era and a mine was established in 1948 which produced intermittently from a number of deposits through to 1978 when a decline in rare earth element (REE) prices rendered opera- tions uneconomic. Most of the mining over this

View of the Gasagwe min- ing area. The trial mining phase will see 3 338 tonnes of ore being produced from Gasagwe.

Gravity surveying in the project area.

May 2017  MODERN MINING  23