Modern Mining November 2018

CONSULTANTS/ PROJECT HOUSES

Lycopodium to build another West African gold project

3 Mt/a Houndé and 4 Mt/a Karma Upgrade gold projects for Endeavour Mining, the 3 Mt/a Natougou gold project for Semafo, and the 4 Mt/a Bissa and 8 Mt/a Bouly gold projects for Nordgold. It is currently building the 2,5 Mt/a Wahgnion gold project for Teranga Gold Corp. Sanbrado will be a substantial mine. The updated Feasibility Study (FS) released in June this year envisages an initial 11-year mine life, including 4,5 years of underground mining, with an average annual production over the first five years of mine life of 211 000 ounces of gold and a 16-month post-tax payback on US$185 million pre-production capital costs. Project economics are robust with an AISC of US$551/oz over the first five years and US$640/oz over the life of mine. The project site is located approximately 90 km east-southeast of Ouagadougou, the capi- tal of Burkina Faso. In other developments relating to Sanbrado, West African says that during the September quarter it conducted a competitive tender pro- cess for the supply and delivery of the SAG and ball mill package. Following the evaluation of tenders, the company selected Outotec to sup- ply the 4 MW semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill and 4 MW ball mill, principally due to Outotec’s extensive experience with grinding

Australia’s West African Resources (West African), which is listed on the ASX and TSX-V, has lined up Australian engi- neering company Lycopodium as the EPCM contractor for its Sanbrado gold project in Burkina Faso.

W est African recently con- ducted a competitive tender process for the engineering, procurement, and construc- tion management (EPCM) of the Sanbrado process plant and associated infrastructure. Following a detailed evaluation of bids, it has signed a conditional Letter of In- tent with Lycopodium for the EPCM contract. The Letter of Intent relates to the engineer- ing and procurement (EP) portions for a new 2 Mt/a carbon-in-leach (CIL) treatment facil- ity and other supporting infrastructure to be constructed at Sanbrado. It is expected that the EPCM contract will be signed by the end of 2018, following agreement of the final terms and conditions and West African Resources board approval. Listed on the ASX, Lycopodium has com- pleted the construction of more than a dozen gold development projects in West Africa since 2009. It has a successful track record in Burkina Faso, recently delivering EPCM projects at the

Boxcut establishment at the Sanbrado site.

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42  MODERN MINING  November 2018