Name of the Mine
Singida mine.

Location
The Ikungi administrative district of the Singida region, central Tanzania.

Project Owner/s
Shanta Mining Company.

Brief Description  
The Singida mine comprises seven openpits that are planned to be mined as per the current life-of-mine (LoM) plan, which extends to the end of 2029, based on existing reserves.

Only 26% of current mineral resources are included in the existing LoM plan, and 90% of contained gold within the reserves are less than 150 m from the surface, highlighting the potential for reserve expansion at depth.

Brief History  
Construction at Singida started in 2020. Production started in early 2023.

Primary Metals/Minerals  
Gold.

Secondary Metals/Minerals  
None stated.

Geology/Mineralisation  
The geology of the Singida area is dominated by the Tanzanian granite-gneiss craton. 

Gold mineralisation is associated with penetrative brittle-ductile, steeply dipping, quartz-veined shear zones that generally approximate the strike of lithological contacts.

The area south of Singida is exceptionally flat-lying, with little relief except for the granite intrusives that form prominent tors. Weathered overburden profiles are dominated by Neogene transported pedogenic gravels and related soils. Black Cotton soils (Mbuga) occurs locally.

Reserves  
Total probable reserves as at December 31, 2022, were estimated 2.39-million tonnes grading 3.01 g/t.

Resources  
Total measured resources are estimated at 1.52-million tonnes grading 3.29 g/t gold. Indicated resources are estimated at 3.99-million tonnes grading 2.36 g/t gold. Inferred resources are estimated at 6.15-million tonnes grading 2.12 g/t gold.

Type of Mine
Openpit.

Mining Method  
Contractor mining.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment  
Singida is designed to extract gold through a gravity circuit and a carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit at 1 000 t/d, or 30 000 t a month.

The stream of the CIL circuit comprises a thickener of 12 m in diameter, and CIL including six tanks of 255 m3 each, with a provision of adding two more tanks of the same capacity in future.

There is potential for further optimisation of the mining schedule with a throughput expansion. A second ball mill, plus additional pumps and leaching capacity, will double plant throughput to more than 2 000 t/d and reduce cutoff grades.

Prospects  
Singida has considerable upside potential given its location within a greenstone deposit, making it well suited to further exploration growth.

Contact Details
Shanta Gold
Tel +255 22 292 5148
email mining@shantagold.com or info@shantagold.com.

Sources
Engineering News. Website: https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/
Engineering News. Shanta announces new five-year plan for Singida (July 3, 2023).

Shanta Gold. Website: https://www.shantagold.com/
Shanta Gold. Shanta Gold Announces Singida Five-Year Plan (July 3, 2023).
Shanta Gold. Singida Five-Year Plan Presentation (July 3, 2023).