The Burkina Faso mining sector is booming. The Burkina Faso mining sector has become vibrant and active in recent years, thanks to increased exploration in the country. Companies such as SEMAFO and Roxgold are largely contributing to this. There are a variety of natural resources found in Burkina Faso, including manganese (used in stainless steel), limestone, marble, pumice, and salt. The country is also Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer.
Exploration Activity:
Gold production in the Burkina Faso mining sector could increase by +200 000 oz in 2018, thanks to the development of TSX-listed gold producer SEMAFOs Burkina-Faso-based Boungou mine which is 63% complete. Approximately 139 Mt of material will be mined from the open pit during the +7 year projected LOM – delivering 9.6 Mt of ore to the milling facility. Process grades for the initial three years are expected to average 5.72 g/t gold for an average 226 000 ozpa of gold. Roxgold’s Bagassi South project could expand its annual gold production by 40% to over 150 000 ozpa. In addition, various other players such as Nexus Gold, Endeavour Mining, Orezone Gold, B2Gold and Golden Rim Resources have been active with their exploration programmes.
Discoveries:
Exploration activity in the Burkina Faso mining sector has made a number of discoveries. Endeavor Mining has discovered positive results in both of its exploration sites, the Hounde Mine and Karma mine. A significant discovery in the eastern part of the 6 km-long Kari geochemical anomaly in the Hounde mine has turned around its lack of activity experienced for the past 2 years. High grade mineralisation was also intercepted on several other targets.
In the Karma mine, drilling has confirmed mineralisation at the Yabongso target and discovered a parallel oxide structure east of the North Kao deposit, both of which are expected to be delineated into resources in Q1, 2018 and add further potential to extend its mine life.
Of their results, Patrick Bouisset, Executive President Exploration and Growth at Endeavour Mining says, “At Houndé, the high-grade drill results obtained at Kari Pump and at the other targets are very encouraging since they are in line with our objective of discovering and delineating higher-grade deposits which can complement production from the main Vindaloo deposit and extend its current 10-year reserve mine life at low AISC with a production profile of more than 200 000 oz of gold per annum,”
He continues by saying that “We are very pleased with the exploration success achieved at Karma since we acquired the asset in mid-2016. Last year we successfully extended its mine life from eight to beyond 10 years with the addition of North Kao, and the initial results of this year’s campaign continue to be very encouraging as they suggest the possibility for further resource delineation. After confirming mineralisation at the Yabongso target, we intend to also drill other selected high priority targets throughout 2018.”
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