Mwana Africa’s Freda Rebecca Gold Mine (FRGM) has just completed Phase 2 of the construction programme on schedule and within budget.

Commissioning of the second mill is complete and the under- ground production ramp-up is progressing to plan, through the introduction of additional rock-moving capability.

The project involved the overhaul and refurbishment of the second milling circuit and its associated carbon-in-pulp and carbon-in-leach (CIL) sections, including construction work and commissioning on the ore chutes, feeders and the conveyor system for the mill feed. Reconstruction of all associated mill discharge pumping, cyclone circuits and slurry handling arrangements as well as the Phase 2 leach tanks are complete.

Phase 1 has already exceeded its target production rate of 2 500 oz/m by more than 30%, in some months, and FRGM is well positioned to expand its processing capability and reach the targeted Phase 2 annual gold production rate of 50 000 oz/y.

Mwana Africa CEO Kalaa Mpinga says that Freda Rebecca is an ongoing success story for Mwana in Zimbabwe and it has made a commitment to sell 15% to a local businessperson.

“The completed refurbishment of the second milling circuit is a significant milestone for the company in its efforts to increase the gold production capability, in line with our focused strategy of phased growth,” says Mpinga, adding that the investment and performance of the team at the mine over the last 18 months demonstrate the company’s commitment to Zimbabwe and its ability to operate successfully.

Mwana Africa announced an updated mineral resource estimate for FRGM in Zimbabwe in April. The total indicated mineral resource increased by 61% to 1.67-million ounces of gold. The increased resource is expected to form the basis for an extended life-of-mine.

The updated mineral resource has been independently verified by consulting engineering firm SRK Consulting using all available data including drilling results and information obtained through ongoing underground development. It is based on a cutoff grade of 1.5 g/t gold.

Mpinga says that the focus over the past year has been on the Phase 1 rehabilitation and production ramp-up at the primary gold asset in Zimbabwe. This resource evaluation demonstrates the longevity and potential of the operations. The mine boasts 200 000 m of historical drilling, including 25 000 orebody intercepts and a proven production history. The addition of this updated resource model will put FRGM in a strong position as it moves to Phase 2 of the production ramp-up over the coming months.

The gold mine is situated near the town of Bindura, 90 km north-east of Harare, Zimbabwe. In April 2005, Mwana Africa bought a 100% interest in FRGM from AngloGold Ashanti.

The exploration, development and production history for gold in the Bindura area dates from 1912. The Freda oxide and the Freda and Rebecca sulphide gold deposits were discovered in 1987. Mine development started under Cluff Resources through the removal of oxides at Freda and sulphides at Rebecca using two openits. The first gold pour took place in 1988.

Ashanti Goldfields Zimbabwe acquired the mine in 1996. Underground operations started at the Rebecca section in 1996. In 1998, the Freda pit was depleted and FRGM became a fully underground operation.

FRGM operated continuously from 1988 to 2007. The operations were put on care and maintenance in March, 2007, owing to adverse economic and operating conditions in Zimbabwe. Operations were then restarted in 2009.
Today, FRGM comprises a shallow underground operation, currently mining at a depth of about 200 m, and processes ore through a single facility using a combination of crushing, conventional semiautogenous grinding and milling, a combined gravity and CIL process, electrowinning and bullion smelting.

Following the introduction in Zimbabwe of a number of proactive economic policies in early 2009, including the dollarisation of the economy, the review of gold marketing conditions to allow export of gold and the permission to remit proceeds of sales in foreign currency, market conditions improved.

These changes, together with an improved gold price, allowed Mwana Africa to embark on a two-phased programme to bring the mine back into production.

The first phase brought FRGM back into production, targeting a production rate of 2 500 oz/m and 30 000 oz/y. Gold production resarted in October 2009, and the production for the financial year to March 31 was 27 240 oz of gold, with 3 574 oz produced in March.
The second phase of the programme has a target production rate of 4 167 oz/m and 50 000 oz/y.