Engineering & Mining Journal

OCT 2017

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REGIONAL NEWS - AFRICA 20 E&MJ; • OCTOBER 2017 www.e-mj.com Endeavour Starts Building Ity CIL Project in Cote d'Ivoire Endeavour Mining has started construction of its Ity carbon-in-leach (CIL) project in Cote d'Ivoire, where its Ity heap-leach op- erations have been in production for more than 20 years. Based on current reserves, the CIL project is expected to add 14 years to Ity mine life. Average annual produc- tion over the first five years is forecast at 235,000 ounces per year (oz/y) at all-in sustaining costs of $494/oz. Initial capital expenditures are estimated at $413 million. Endeavour's in-house construction team has begun to transition from its Houndé project in Burkina Faso to Ity. CIL project construction will require about 20 months, with the first gold pour currently planned for mid-2019. The carbon-in-leach plant will have 4 million metric tons per year (mt/y) of throughput capacity. Life-of-mine throughput is estimated at 57 million mt at an average grade of 1.57 grams/mt of gold. Life-of-mine gold production is esti- mated at 2.47 million oz. All-in sustain- ing costs are estimated at $580/oz. Plant design has been optimized to replicate Houndé plant design, where applicable, to capture working capital in- ventory synergies. Open-pit mine planning for the Ity CIL project assumes an owner-operated min- ing operation using 90-mt haul trucks and a maximum mining movement of 16 million mt/y, with a vertical advance of ap- proximately 40 m/y. Endeavour sees these figures as conservative in nature due to the annual rainfall at the Ity project. Min- ing is scheduled to begin three months before the start of the processing plant to pre-strip the pits and stockpile ore. The mining fleet contract has been awarded to Komatsu to benefit from syn- ergies relating to minimizing spare parts inventory and maintenance costs, as En- deavour's Houndé and Karma mines both have similar fleets. Capital costs include the construction of a 58-km, 91-kv overhead power line to connect to the national grid. A full 26- MW high-speed diesel back-up power sta- tion will provide 100% redundancy. Infrastructure currently in place will be improved, with roads upgraded to an all-weather and free-draining carriage- way to provide access for the delivery of equipment, materials, and services to the site. A new camp will be built approxi- mately 1 km northwest of the process plant and will provide accommodation for 200 employees. Planning also calls for construction of a suitable airstrip. Endeavour President and CEO Sébas- tien de Montessus commented, "With the upcoming first gold pour at Houndé and Ity carbon-in-leach construction expected to be completed within 20 months, we remain on track to achieve our strategic milestones of becoming a +800,000-oz/y gold producer with group all-in sustain- ing costs below $800/oz and mine lives above 10 years by 2019." Hummingbird Nearing Startup at Yanfolila Hummingbird Resources expects to com- plete commissioning of its Yanfolila gold project in western Mali during the fourth quarter of 2017 and to pour its first gold before year-end. Preproduction mining by contractor African Mining Services (AMS) began on schedule in August, and ore was being stockpiled in advance of its introduc- tion into the process plant. AMS currently has one Liebherr 9150 excavator, one Li- ebherr 9250 excavator, six Cat 777 trucks, five Cat D9 dozers, one Cat 336 excavator, and two Cat 980 front-end loaders on site. The Yanfolila definitive feasibility study calls for production of an average of 107,000 ounces per year (oz/y) of gold over an eight-year mine life, including 132,000 oz in the first full year of pro- duction. Plant throughput is planned at 1.24 million metric tons per year (mt/y) at a life-of-mine average grade of 2.25 grams/mt gold. Life-of-mine all-in sus- taining cost is estimated at $695/oz. Capital expenditures prior to startup are budgeted at $79 million. Project development is based on prob- able reserves of 709,800 oz of gold in 7 million mt at a grade of 3.14 g/mt and to- tal resources, inclusive of reserves, of 1.8 million oz in 22.2 million mt at a grade of 2.54 g/mt. During the first phase of mining there will be areas of free dig material as well as material that will require light blast- ing. Blasting will be conducted using non-electric down-hole delay detonators, with ANFO for dry holes and emulsion explosives for wet holes. AEL Mining Ser- vices is providing an explosive storage and supply service to the mining contractor. The Yanfolila ore is non-refractory. The process plant design incorporates industry unit process operations, consist- ing of primary and secondary crushing, closed-circuit ball milling with gravity concentration, intensive leach of gravity concentrate, carbon-in-leach of the grav- Endeavour's Houndé project began construction in April 2016 and is expected to provide 14 years of low-cost production.

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