Canadian miner Iamgold has affirmed that production from its Essakane gold project, in Burkina Faso, is on schedule to start in August.

Iamgold senior vice-presi-dent of African operations Brian Chandler said at the Mining Indaba 2010 confer-
ence, in Cape Town, that there was every reason to believe that the project would start on time and within budget.

Once production was under way, it was expected that Essakane could produce as much as 490 000 oz during 
2010 and 2011, he said, adding that the mine could achieve a yearly production level of 
350 000 oz/y.

Operating cash costs were expected to be between $400/oz and $410/oz.

Mining of the Essakane deposit would involve a conventional surface mine with selective ore-mining.

Iamgold had a 90% interest in the project, with the remaining 10% held by the Burkina Faso government. The midtier miner bought the project when it acquired Orezone Resources.

Chandler also said that Iamgold was bullish about its future.

The company was pursuing an aggressive growth strategy, expecting that it could produce one-million ounces of gold this year, when it ramped up production at Essakane.

Chandler said that production levels were expected to increase further to 1,4-million ounces a year by 2014.

Iamgold produced 939 000 oz 
of gold in 2009.

The company has mines in Suriname, Canada, Botswana, Mali and Ghana and development projects in Canada, Ecuador and French Guiana.