Name and location
Youga gold mine, Burkina Faso.
Project description
The project involves the construction of a million-ton-a-year gold mine.
The mine will be located about 180 km south-east of the capital city of Ouagadougou and near the border with northern Ghana. The mine will comprise openpit mining from five pits, with the ore being processed through a conventional carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant having a design capacity of one-million tons a year.
Mineable reserves are 6,6-million tons, with an average grade of 2,7 g/t, containing 580 000 oz of gold.
In addition to the current mineable reserves, six additional mineralised zones have been identified by drilling and trenching, and all are within a 3-km distance of the central milling facility.
These additional zones will be systematically upgraded into resource and reserve categories as mining progresses in the first five openpits.
Value
The total funding requirement for the development of the Youga gold mine is $61-million, including capital costs of $54-million, and working capital and financing costs.
Duration
Phase one construction on the project began in April 2005.
Production is scheduled for the second quarter of 2007.
Breakdown of main contracts
A breakdown of work includes plant engineering, procurement of long-lead electrical equipment, power line routing and related environmental surveys, and the engineering and construction of a mining camp.
Client
The mine is owned and operated by Burkina Mining Company SA, which is 90% owned by Etruscan, and 10% by the State of Burkina Faso.
Latest developments
Construction at the Youga gold mine is nearing completion.
The contract mining fleet operated by PW Mining has been fully mobilised and has completed overburden and waste-stripping of the main pit.
The drill-and-blast contractor, Nitro Chimie, is also fully mobilised, and has blasted over 500 000 cubic metres to date. The on-site infrastructure for both contractors is nearing completion.
The initial phase of the run-of-mine (Rom) pad has been completed, which represented the placement of about 300 000 cubic metres of waste rock.
The pad will be expanded over the life of the project to allow for extra ore stockpiling capacity.
A clay liner, the starter wall, and the return water pond for the tailings storage facility have been completed and the remaining piping and liners are currently being installed.
A primary-grade control drill rig is now on site and in operation.
The initial ore will be mined from the main pit (A2 Main) and stockpiled on the Rom pad for commissioning and early production. The grade control staff have been hired and are now on site.
The 10-MVA diesel-fired back-up power plant has been completely installed and is ready to operate.
The construction of the main electrical power line from Ghana is continuing and the first phase power delivery is scheduled to be completed by December.
The installation of the 11-km water pipeline to the Volta river and the overhead power line to power the pumpstation has been completed. The installation of the pumping units will be completed when the water in the Volta river recedes.
Temporary pumping capacity is now being put in place.
Important plant circuits (including the crushing and screening, the mill and cyclone tower, the CIL plant and process building) are nearing completion, with the majority of the steelwork erected and the mechanical equipment placed.
The mine camp is complete and fully operational. The construction of various infrastructure buildings, such as the main workshop, chemical stores, the crusher workshop, the security/change building and the office blocks are also complete.
The Youga gold project is being commissioned in three phases before ramping up to full production. Each circuit will go through an initial dry, then wet, and finally, an ore-based commissioning process.
The commissioning of the main plant units is scheduled to be completed in November, with the testing of the CIL circuit, the crushing and screening circuit, the grinding and cyclone circuit, and finally the elution and gold room areas. With a successful commissioning achieved, the first gold pour is scheduled for December.
Participants
FirstRand Bank (debt financing), RSG (feasibility study), PW Mining International (mining con-tractor), GBM Projects (detailed engineering phase and site construction management), Redsea (mine village housing), Osborn (crushing circuit), Knelson (gravity equipment), Metso (mill drive train), Permastore (CIL tanks), Kemix (CIL interstage screens), Megatron (major electrical items), DLM (structural steel), CMA (mechanical and structural erection), Bertling Logistics (shipping contract), Sonabel SA (electrical power), SDMO (supply and commissioning of power plant), Nitrochimie (drill-and-blast contractor), and GBM Projects Limited (construction management services for the CIL processing plant).
Construction materials
An estimated 500 t of structural steel.
On budget and on time?
Not stated.
Contact details for project information
Etruscan Resources investor relations,
Richard Gordon, tel +1 877 465 374,
fax +1 902 832-6702 or
email rgordon@etruscan.com.