TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian gold producer Banro, which exploits the 210-km-long Twangiza-Namoya gold belt, in the South Kivu and Maniema provinces of the western Democratic Republic of Congo, has reported record first-quarter output.
The company said its Twangiza operation successfully managed the unfavourable impact of the rainy season to lift output 78% to 35 943 oz of gold compared with 20 137 oz in the year-earlier period.
The process plant achieved throughput of 101% of the 1.7-million tonnes a year annualised design capacity, after consistently improving output over the previous three quarters.
Banro advised that the Twangiza operation processed up to 28% of transition ore to assist with the feed blend during the last two quarters, despite this material not being included in the company's mineral reserves.
Together, Twangiza and Namoya produced 45 197 oz of gold in the period ended March 31.
President and CEO John Clarke noted that Twangiza would be optimised during the current quarter for operational improvement.
“Namoya is positioned to improve during quarter two as we are ramping up ore production following the installation of the agglomeration stage (with cement added as a binder) into the Namoya heap leach circuit. The agglomeration drum is expected to allow for more efficient processing of the fines content of the Namoya ore and ensure more efficient reagent percolation in the heap process, leading to better gold recovery," Clarke noted.