Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/239773
REGIONAL NEWS - AFRICA Sibanye Proposes Acquisition of Wits Gold Sibanye Gold announced on December 11 an offer to acquire Witwatersrand Consolidated Gold Resources for approximately R407 million ($39 million) in cash. Sibanye Gold CEO Neal Froneman said, "Wits Gold owns significant exploration and project areas in the Wits Basin, containing approximately 157 million oz of gold resources. More importantly, its advanced De Bron Merriespruit and Bloemhoek projects in the Southern Free State are adjacent to Sibanye Gold's Beatrix operations and offer an opportunity to extend the operating life of Beatrix and unlock significant value in the region. This is consistent with Sibanye Gold's strategy of extending its life-of-mine production profile in order to sustain its industry leading dividend yield in the long term." Wits Gold was formed in 2003 with the aim of acquiring properties adjacent to operating mines within the goldfields of the Wits Basin in order to quantify their exploitable resources. This focus served to build a comprehensive and unique geological understanding of the Wits Basin and led to the development of the De Bron Merriespruit and Bloemhoek projects. Wits Gold also holds uranium resources at Beisa North and South, adjacent to Beatrix West, which have potential to be developed into a uranium producer. Also, on July 4, 2013, Wits Gold submitted a binding offer for the acquisition of Southgold Exploration, which owns the Burnstone mine on the South Rand goldfield. Southgold is currently subject to business rescue proceedings following the Sibanye Gold's Beatrix operations are adjacent to Wits Golds' De Bron Merriespruit and Bloemhoek projects in the Southern Free State. 16 E&MJ; • JANUARY 2014 commencement of the liquidation of Great Basin Gold Ltd. in September 2012. Wits Gold has since advanced a suite of agreements, including transaction and refinancing agreements, that are expected to be executed shortly. Burnstone is a shallow, semi-mechanized mine containing a 6.4-million-oz reserve and 21.7-million-oz resource. Mine construction started in 2006 and mine infrastructure is 90% complete, with approximately $800 million already spent on establishing the mine. Commenting on Sibanye's possible acquisition of Burnstone, Froneman said, "Burnstone potentially secures an additional source of low-cost production, thereby enhancing Sibanye Gold's existing production profile and shifting its operating profile toward shallower operations, as well as establishing a new operational base in the South Rand goldfield." Sibanye's final decision to invest in Burnstone will be subject to implementation of the proposed transaction and the outcome of a final due diligence investigation of Burnstone by Sibanye. Nevsun's Copper Expansion Reaches Commercial Production Nevsun Resources' copper expansion project at its Bisha mine in Eritrea reached commercial production in early December, following successful commissioning of a new copper flotation plant. Nevsun began producing gold at Bisha in December 2011, processing ore from the project's oxide cap. The new flotation plant initially processed pyrite sand through the rougher flotation circuit to produce a precious metals concentrate. Production of copper concentrate began in August 2013. Transportation logistics from the Bisha mine site to Massawa port were performing as expected, and three ocean shipments of copper concentrate totaling approximately $60 million in value had been made as of early December. The build cost of the Bisha copper concentrator and infrastructure totaled approximately $110 million, 12% under the budget of $125 million. The concentrator is expected to reach its design production rate of 200 million lb/y of copper in concentrate in the first quarter of 2014 at cash costs of less than $1/lb. The Bisha mine is located 150 km west of Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. The state of Eritrea has a free carried 10% interest in the project, plus an additional 30% paid participating interest for a total 40% interest. The Bisha mine is based on a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit that was configured in three distinct, layered zones: a 35-m-thick surface gold-silver oxide zone that is now mined out; an underlying, 30-m-thick copper-enriched supergene zone; and, beneath the supergene zone, a primary sulphide zone containing both zinc and copper, which is open to depth. Probable supergene zone reserves total 6.42 million mt, grading 4.09% copper, 0.67 g/mt gold, and 28 g/mt silver. Contained supergene-zone copper is estimated at about 579,000 million lb. Probable primary zone reserves total 17.66 million mt, grading 1.13% copper, 6.54% zinc, 0.74 g/mt gold, and 49 g/mt silver. Contained primary-zone copper and zinc are estimated at 439 million lb and 2.5 billion lb, respectively. Current planning calls for the addition of a zinc flotation circuit to the Bisha concentrator when mining reaches the primary sulphide zone. Bisha is mined using conventional drilland-blast, open-pit mining techniques. Comminution is through a conventional, single-stage crushing/SAG/ball mill circuit. Flotation is based on conventional rougher, cleaner and regrind circuits. Copper concentrate is thickened, dewatered and stockpiled for shipment. Tailings are stored wet in a lined tailings management facility. Power is provided by dedicated diesel generators. Water is sourced from pit dewatering and from local well fields. Endeavour Mining Pours First Gold at Agbaou Endeavour Mining poured the first gold bar from the carbon-in-leach (CIL) and gravity gold circuits at the Agbaou mine in Côte d'Ivoire on November 29. Agbaou's ore reclaim, milling, CIL, Knelson concentrator, Gekko intensive leach reactor, cyanide detoxification, and tailings areas were all fully commissioned, and the plant had been ramped up to design throughput levels. Endeavour expects the operation to achieve full commercial production during the first quarter of 2014. (Continued on p. 24) www.e-mj.com