The Republic of Mali (‘Mali’) is Africa’s third largest gold producer. The country has been EITI-compliant since 2011 and the mining sector, as a large contributor to the GDP and prominent theme in its history, is considered a priority industry. For over 25 years, Mali has been home to international mining companies’ commercial operations and gold constitutes approximately 90% of its mineral production. All of these factors render Mali a first-rate country to operate in.
The Yanfolila Gold Mine (‘Yanfolila’), located in southern Mali, is a high grade open pit mining operation, which poured first gold on time and on budget in December 2017.
With 7.9Mt of Reserve ore @ 2.66 g/t for c. 676,000 ozs gold and a wider 2Moz Resource base, Yanfolila is a high grade deposit with significant scope to increase its Reserve base and Life of Mine through on-going exploration.
The carbon-in-leach process plant has a throughput capacity of 1.4Mtpa when processing a blend of ore types, which was enhanced by the secondary ball mill project in 2019. When processing 100% fresh ore, the throughput capacity has been increased from 1Mtpa to 1.24Mtpa.
5-year Rolling Mine Plan (2020-2024)
| Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oz (Au) | 125,000 | 120,000 | 121,000 | 100,000 | 108,000 |
There are significant Indicated Resources both within the open pit and mine inventories that are not in the current mine plan. These will be targeted for conversion to ore Reserves in the future to increase both current forecasted annual production and to extend the mine life. There is a focus on exploration and underground development to delineate new Resources and Reserves to further augment the mine plan.
For more information on Yanfolila, please visit our news page for the latest announcements.
Economics
Definitive Feasibility Study
The table below provides the key results of the Definitive Feasibility Study released by Hummingbird Resources on 18 January 2016. This was updated to the Optimised New Mine Schedule, dated 29 February 2016.
| Feb 2016 Optimised Mine Plan (US$1,100) | Feb 2016 Optimised Mine Plan (US$1,250) | Feb 2016 Optimised Mine Plan (US$1,400) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production Year 1 | 132,000oz | 132,000oz | 132,000oz |
| LoM Production/Year | 107,000oz | 107,000oz | 107,000oz |
| LoM Grade | 2.95g/t | 2.95g/t | 2.95g/t |
| Annual Throughput | 1.24Mtpa | 1.24Mtpa | 1.24Mtpa |
| Project CAPEX | US$79m | US$79m | US$79m |
| Recovery | 92.8% | 92.8% | 92.8% |
| All in Sustaining Costs (US$/oz) | US$686 | US$695 | US$701 |
| LoM NPV (8%) | US$109m | US$162m | US$216m |
| After Tax IRR | 42% | 60% | 77% |
Probable Reserves (December 2015)
| Tonnes | Contained Ounces (Au) | Grade (g/t) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Komana East | 4,606,000 | 470,600 | 3.18 |
| Komana West | 2,433,000 | 239,200 | 3.06 |
| Total | 7,039,000 | 709,800 | 3.14 |
Indicated and Inferred Resources (Inclusive of Reserves)
| Tonnes | Contained Ounces (Au) | Grade (g/t) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| JORC 2012 | 20,919,000 | 1,699,100 | 2.53 |
| SAMREC 2009 | 2,020,000 | 85,400 | 1.31 |
| GFL 2013 Non-Compliant | 5,013,200 | 220,800 | 1.37 |
| Total | 27,952,200 | 2,005,300 | 2.23 |
Our exploration strategy seeks to bring as much of the Resources, over 1Moz, that are not currently in Reserves into the mining plan at the Yanfolila Gold Mine.
We will focus primarily on the areas that we consider will have the greatest positive impact on the mine life, while also looking to discover extensional Resources within the licence area to ensure a healthy pipeline of ore Reserves.
Gonka
Gonka is an exciting deposit on strike, located 5km south of the Komana East pit and consisting of basalt and mafic dyke-hosted gold deposits with higher grades at depth. All Resources for this deposit are Inferred and targeted to be converted into Measured and Indicated categories.
This deposit has the potential to improve the operation’s production profile by enhancing the process plant feed grade in the middle years of the currently scheduled mine life.
Guirin West
Located in a highly accessible area, just 1.5km to the west of the Komana East open pit, the Guirin West deposit could be fast-tracked to a top priority source of high grade oxide material to be brought within the mine plan. Infill drilling is required to convert the current Resource into Indicated and Measured Reserves.
Komana East Underground
External consultants DRA Global are currently carrying out an initial desktop study at Komana East to target high grades at depth beneath the pit shell. Initial feedback from the study has been positive, based on the current Indicated and Inferred Resources.
The exploration strategy will drill deep holes to target and convert currently Inferred Resources to the Indicated category, adding mine life and improving the grade profile of operations towards the end of the current scheduled mine life.
Komana West
Komana West has a 2.5km+ strike length and is due to start being mined later this year. There is exploration potential to the North and South of the current pit design, with possible underground potential too.
Further work is to be carried out to quantify this upside in more detail.
Sanioumale East
Sanioumale East is a basalt and mafic dyke-hosted gold deposit, similar to the Komana East and Gonka deposits. It has a 2.0km+ strike length and open mineralisation at depth, with only the weathered zone having been drilled historically. This has exposed the fresh rock beneath that is open to drilling and additional Reserves.
Sanioumale West
With a more complex character than Sanioumale East, Sanioumale West is a sediment-hosted gold deposit with an ore body deometry that is considered favourable for strong pit economics. Deposited similarly to Sanioumale East, the mineral Resource is open at depth, since only the oxide zone was historically drilled, leaving the fresh rock open to drilling for additional Reserves.