Fisheye-lens view of the Karma heap-leach project in Burkina Faso, where mining has begun and site civil construction was reported to be about three-fourths complete and on schedule. (Photo: True Gold Mining)
True Gold Mining began mining the Goulagou II (GGII) deposit at the Karma heap-leach gold project in Burkina Faso in October. The deposit is the first of six that will be mined over an 11.5-year period. Production will average approximately 120,000 ounces per year (oz/y) of gold during the first five years of operation at lowest-quartile cash costs. First gold production is scheduled for late in the first quarter of 2016.
The Karma project is located in north-central Burkina Faso, 185 km northwest of Ouagadougou, the nation’s capital. True Gold holds a 90% interest in the project. The government of Burkina Faso has a 10% free-carried interest.
The GGII deposit has reserves of 273,000 leachable oz of gold contained in 7.6 million mt at a grade of 1.12 g/mt and will be mined during the first two years of production. As of late October, project construction was approximately 73% complete and was funded through to production. Procurement was complete, and deliveries to site had reached 92%.
Metallurgical testing of the Karma deposits established that gold recoveries from oxide material are rapid and substantially complete within 10 days. Life-of-mine heap-leach recoveries are projected to average 87.2%.
The Burkina Faso Council of Ministers has ratified the “Mining Convention” that sets out the fiscal and legal terms for the operation of the Karma mine. The convention is valid for 20 years and may be renewed for subsequent periods of five years.
