Banro Corp. reports it poured the first gold at its new Twangiza mine in South Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in early October 2011. The Twangiza oxide plant will process the oxide portion of the Twangiza orebody. Production will ramp up during the fourth quarter of 2011 and is scheduled to achieve an annual rate of 120,000 oz/y of gold in 2012.
Twangiza is Banro’s first gold mine along the 210-km Twangiza-Namoya gold belt, where the company has delineated five projects within 13 licensed mining concessions. Gold recovery at the Twangiza plant is expected to total more than 1 million oz of over a seven-year period, providing a platform to finance planned growth in gold oxide production through similar projects along the belt.
To this end, construction preparation is already under way at Namoya, Banro’s second gold project, which is scheduled for production in the first quarter of 2013. Two other projects, Lugushwa and Kamituga, are also envisaged to contribute to the company’s planned growth of gold oxide production along the Twangiza-Namoya belt.
