Africa-focused gold producer Randgold Resources announced last month that it had commissioned its fourth-stage crushing circuit at its Tongon gold mine, in Côte d’Ivoire, completing an extensive capital project designed to improve throughput and recovery.
During a media briefing in Côte d’Ivoire, Randgold CE Mark Bristow said Tongon was continuing to make headway in its drive to overcome technical issues, with gold production up 7% to 242 948 oz in 2015, as the flotation upgrade and crushing circuit extension programme started delivering results.
“Tongon is targeting an annual production of 290 000 oz in 2016, but there are still significant challenges in its way. Chief among these is the continued instability of the grid power supply, which has a major impact on the mine’s cost structure. The Tongon team is in discussion with the Ivorian power utility to resolve this problem,” he said.
Bristow noted that, despite a high level of activity, Tongon was maintaining its excellent safety record, achieving 3.7 million lost-time injury-free hours in 2015. It had also retained its OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001 certifications.
Tongon was also continuing its drive to extend the life of the mine through exploration, with the latest drilling results indicating the potential for additional reserves and resources within and below the existing openpits.
The media briefing was held at the Tongon mine following a golf day to launch Côte d’Ivoire’s first golf academy for children – a joint initiative between the Ivorian sports promotion company Team STL and Randgold.