Modern Mining November 2018

MINING News

Roxgold advances new mine at Yaramoko

Yaramoko property. The deposit is located approximately 1,8 km south of the 55 Zone which is currently being mined. The Bagassi South QV1 deposit feasibil- ity study confirmed robust economics for a potential 350 tonnes/day (t/d) under- ground mine. Bagassi South contains probable mineral reserves of 458 000 tonnes grading 11,54 g/t gold and is expected to increase Yaramoko’s gold pro- duction by an estimated average of 40 000 ounces per year to 2023. To support the additional throughput expected from Bagassi South, the exist- ing Yaramoko gold mine process plant is being expanded from a capacity of 750 t/d to 1 100 t/d. “We continue to see consistently solid operating performance at Yaramoko with gold production of 106 812 ounces for the first nine months, positioning us well to meet the upper-end of our 2018 guidance range of producing between 120 000 and 130 000 ounces. With ongoing optimisa- tion activities at the plant, this quarter also saw record quarterly throughput repre- senting 15 % above nameplate capacity,” stated John Dorward, President and CEO of Roxgold. “Our Bagassi South expansion proj- ect continues to make excellent progress as both the construction of the process plant expansion and mine development at Bagassi South, our second high-grade underground gold mine, continue to be on schedule with first ore expected by the end of the year.”  diamond results for the four kimberlites tested to be highly encouraging and they are consistent with the existing project data, which points to high commercial diamond grades for these kimberlites. This is supported by the current bulk sample processing of the Lando kimberlite which, although highly diluted, has still yielded 800 carats at a grade of over 111 cpht. “Based on Newfield’s results to date, there is little doubt that the kimberlites that comprise the Tongo project are high grade and contain high quality diamonds. We look forward to the completion of the indepen- dent grade and valuemodelling work which is expected to lead to an updated JORC- compliant resource estimate for the Tongo project during the current quarter.” 

Recent aerial view of the Bagassi South site (photo: Roxgold).

tinued to advance the Bagassi South expansion project. All permits and decrees required for Bagassi South mining and the process plant expansion have now been received. Development and con- struction is progressing well with overall project completion at approximately 70 % in mid-October. Mine development has commenced with approximately 258 m completed and mobilisation of contractor personnel and equipment for the con- struction of the ventilation shaft is well underway. Bagassi South will be the second high- grade underground gold mine on the project during the current quarter. The core samples used in the micro- diamond analysis were obtained as part of the recent mine plan drilling programme on the Tongo project. The areas drilled are incorporated as the first two levels of underground mining within the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study, which is expected to be completed in the current quarter. Results from this drilling are also expected to allow considerable amounts of the shallower mineralisation in those kimberlites to be categorised as indicated resources in the updated resource estimate. Comments Newfield Executive Director Mike Lynn: “Newfield considers the micro-

TSX-listed Roxgold has announced its 2018 third quarter (Q3) and first nine months (YTD 2018) production results from its Yaramoko gold mine in Burkina Faso. Yaramoko produced 30 532 ounces of gold in Q3 driven by a record quarterly processing throughput of 78 357 tonnes, which was 15 % above nameplate capac- ity. Plant availability was 94,9 % and overall recovery was 98,5 % during the quarter. Production for YTD 2018 now stands at 106 812 ounces which puts Roxgold in a strong position to achieve the upper end of its guidance range for the full 2018 year. During the quarter, the company con-

Microdiamond results are “highly encouraging” Newfield Resources, listed on the ASX, has released the results of microdiamond anal- yses from a series of kimberlite drill core samples and the processing of a 717‑tonne sample of the Lando kimberlite from the Tongo diamond project in Sierra Leone. Collectively, the microdiamond and bulk sample processing results strongly support the relatively high diamond grade estimates established in historical resource estimates for the Tongo project kimber- lites. These new results will be fed into the existing resource estimation process being undertaken by MPH Consulting (Canada) with targeted release of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the

4  MODERN MINING  November 2018