Modern Mining November 2016

MINING News

Phase 2A expansion of Asanko Gold Mine approved

Asanko Gold Inc, listed on the TSX and NYSE MKT, has announced that its board has approved the commencement of the Phase 2A expansion at its Asanko Gold Mine (AGM) in Ghana, with Front End Engineering Design (FEED) to start immediately. The decision follows Asanko Gold’s receipt of the ‘Environmental Invoice’ from the Ghananian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for mining operations at the Esaase deposit and the overland conveyor connecting the Esaase pit to the existing processing facility. “Within three quarters of pouring first gold, our Phase 1 project is delivering ahead of feasibility in the key metrics of production and costs,” comments Peter Breese, Asanko Gold’s President and CEO. “The time is right to proceed with the Phase 2A expansion, which will establish mining at our Esaase pit and provide vital infrastructure between Esaase and the existing processing plant for future expan- sion projects.” Phase 2A has two components to its development plan. The first is the devel- opment of an open-pit mine and the construction of mining and crushing infrastructure at Esaase and the construc- tion of a 27 km overland conveyor belt, capable of handling ore for Phases 2A and 2B, to transport ore to the existing processing facility. The second component involves a brownfield modification to the existing CIL process facility to increase the plant’s capacity from 3,6 Mt/a to 5 Mt/a. The upgraded processing facility will process

Layout of the Asanko Gold Mine project in Ghana.

lite deposits, as well as the large Esaase pit. Extensive metallurgical test work, undertaken at ALS laboratories in Perth, Australia, together with operational expe- rience gained from Phase 1 to date, has confirmed that metallurgical recovery from blending the Esaase and Nkran ores will be in line with the PFS recovery esti- mates of 90,9 %. The technical and financial details of the new mine at Esaase, the conveyor belt and the plant modifications will be outlined in the Phase 2 DFS which is expected in Q4 2016. The Phase 2A capital cost is expected to be approximately US$125 million. The second stage of the project, Phase 2B, will further expand the pro- cessing facility at Phase 1 with the construction of an additional 5 Mt/a CIL circuit for a total processing capacity of 10 Mt/a (3 Mt/a from Nkran and associ- ated satellite pits and 7 Mt/a from Esaase) to produce approximately 450 000 ounces of gold per annum. 

a blend of 2 Mt/a of ore from Esaase and 3 Mt/a of ore from the Nkran pit and sur- rounding satellite deposits. With Phase 2A operational, AGM will produce approximately 300 000 ounces of gold in 2018, with the ore being derived from the Nkran pit and the phase 1 satel-

Drilling at Zulu returns “significant” tantalum grades Premier African Minerals Limited, the AIM- quoted mining exploration and production company, reports that significant tantalum grades have been recorded from the cur- rent 2 500 m drilling programme at the company’s Zulu lithium and tantalum proj-

“These interim results are extremely encouraging and support the company’s view that Zulu has the potential to be one of the best hard rock lithium projects today,” comments George Roach, Premier’s CEO. “The tantalum grades are even more significant when compared to the bell- weather Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum deposit, which is currently being developed in Australia by Pilbara Minerals Ltd and has reported generally lower tantalum grades than the current Zulu results received to date in their latest reserve statement in August 2016.” 

ect located in south-central Zimbabwe. Significantly elevated tantalum (Ta 2 O 5 ) grades have been encountered in all holes sampled to date, with grades reported as high as 706 ppm Ta 2 O 5 in borehole ZDD 14. Massive lithium-enriched miner- alised intersections in excess of 40 m were encountered in hole ZDD-05.

12  MODERN MINING  November 2016