Name of the Project
Bagassi South gold project.

Location
The project is located on Roxgold’s Yaramoko concession, in the Houndé greenstone region of Burkina Faso.

Client
Roxgold.

Project Description
A feasibility study completed at the project has proposed a satellite underground operation at Bagassi South and the expansion of the Yaramoko processing facility.

The initial access to the Bagassi South deposit will be through a single ramp from surface to the 5265 Level (45 m below surface).

The ramp will be developed to 260 m below surface (5055 Level), providing access to 15 sublevels on 15 m vertical intervals. 

The ramp will be centrally positioned along strike and three ore blocks will be accessed by on-vein development to the deposit limits. Mining will be conducted using longhole retreat stoping, with cemented rock backfill used to eliminate nonrecoverable pillars to maximise mining recovery to 93%.

The initial mine plan is based on contractor mining, with engineering and grade control provided by Roxgold. 

The mine plan is based on a cutoff grade of 4.8 g/t gold and a minimum mining width of 1.2 m. The mine plan comprises a total production period of 4.2 years, including three years at nominal rates of 350 t/d ore extraction and 48 000 oz/y gold. The mine production plan includes proven and probable reserves of 450 000 t grading 11.54 g/t. 

The typical planned stope comprises a 25 m strike length, a vertical height of 15 m and the full vein width. 

Longhole stoping is planned for narrow vein areas (17% of ore production) and wider vein areas (83% of ore production). Tonne-weighted average horizontal vein widths entail 1.5 m in the narrow stoping areas and 6.3 m in the wider areas.

The expansion of the processing plant will increase capacity from 270 000 t/y to 400 000 t/y, with the following upgrades expected to facilitate the additional throughput and gold recovery:
• a secondary crushing circuit with a throughput of 100 t/h, operating at 70% availability and aiming to achieve a design crush of 80% passing 20 mm;
• conversion of the semiautogenous mill to a ball mill achieving a throughput of 50.2 t/h, with an increased ball charge (20% to 27% in volume) operating at 91.3% availability and aiming to achieve a design grind of 80% passing 90 µm;
• expansion of the carbon-in-leach circuit, consisting of an additional two adsorption tanks and an 8-m-diameter high-rate thickener;
• expansion of the gravity circuit designed to recover 70% of head grade, comprising an additional Acacia leach reactor and two electrowinning cells; and
• additional raw-water storage and power reticulation infrastructure.

Average gold production has been estimated at 40 000 oz/y.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a post-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $50-million and an internal rate of return of 53.2%, with a payback of 1.8 years.

Value
Preproduction capital is estimated at $29.6-million.

Duration
Preliminary surface works will start in early 2018, with first ore expected in late 2018.

Latest Developments
Ongoing infill drilling at Bagassi South has the potential to increase mine life, which could further improve the project’s economics.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Roxgold, tel +1 416 203 6401, fax +1 416 203 0341 or email info@roxgold.com.