Projects
BOMBORÉ’S RECRUITMENT FINALISED
Location:
Burkina Faso
Phase:
Development
Resource: Gold
Orezone Gold has recruited a project
leadership team for its 90% owned
Bomboré gold project in Burkina Faso.
André Baya has been appointed as
general manager and Jason Snow as
project manager. As a seasoned mining
executive as well as general manager
from 2014 to 2017, Baya oversaw the
successful financing, construction, and
commissioning of the Yaramoko gold
mine in Burkina Faso. Snow has over 25
years of experience in the construction
industry, mainly in foreign jurisdictions
in West Africa and the Middle East. The
two managers will jointly be responsible
for leading the project’s execution
and operational readiness efforts. The
company has also recruited other
senior department heads in the areas of
engineering, finance, health and safety,
and environment.
Since completion of the updated
Bomboré definitive feasibility study
(DFS) in July 2018, Orezone has made
progress in the ongoing development
of the Bomboré project. The front-end
engineering and design has commenced
under the overall management of
Lycopodium Minerals Canada.
The process plant and mine design will
be based on a nominal throughput of
5.2 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa)
as opposed to the 4.5Mtpa used in the
8 AFRICAN MINING JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2019
The leadership team consists of senior
mining professionals with track records
of success in West Africa. “We believe
with the team that is now in place,
the company is well positioned to
construct Bomboré into one of the next
operating gold mines in Burkina Faso,
with commercial production expected
to commence by the end of 2020,”
commented Patrick Downey, Orezone
president and CEO.
A map indicating the local geology of the Bomboré gold project.
2018 DFS. This plant expansion will
allow immediate feed of material that
was originally to be stockpiled for later
processing during the mine life. More
importantly, this expanded throughput
capacity will provide flexibility for
possible future feed of oxide material
from the restricted zones that are now
well advanced in the permitting process
and also allow room for addition of
higher-grade sulphide material in the
future. This increased throughput will
immediately improve the overall annual
life of mine production.
Orezone is also completing a detailed
review with its consultants on the
potential to mine select zones of higher-
grade measured and indicated (M&I)
sulphide resources, located at P17S as
well as immediately below existing oxide
reserves. The 2018 DFS was based on
mining oxides and as such, these M&I
sulphide resources are not yet included
in the company’s current mineral
reserve estimate for Bomboré. The
evaluation of this higher-grade sulphide
enhancement opportunity would not
impact the project development timeline
established in the 2018 DFS.
The higher-grade sulphide material
would only be accessed starting in
the third year of the current mining
schedule when the oxide operation is
well established. With the addition
of a separate small crushing and
grinding circuit, these sulphides could
potentially be part of an incremental
higher-grade feed to the existing
oxide CIL circuit without the need
to expand the oxide plant or upgrade
infrastructure. Significant historical
test work has already been completed
on this sulphide material, including
pit wall geotechnical work and
metallurgical test work. Orezone
plans to proceed with a more detailed
evaluation of this separate incremental
sulphide grinding circuit.
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