Page 26 - pd309-Oct22-mag-web-Neat

ADU ReVIeW

Mali looks for golden peace

lawlessness in its north. In January, Lamine Seydou Traore, it will be the key
when President Colonel Assimi Goita an- to his country’s recovery.
nounced a delay to democratic elections, “We believe the current challenges
ECOWAS enacted a series of sanctions. present an opportunity and that minerals
Despite the economic blocks and se- will be the cornerstone of our economic
curity threat the mining industry has con- turnaround,” Traore said at Africa Down
tinued to operate, and even grow, during Under.
this period of instability. “Mali has a huge minerals industry and
Barrick Gold Corp, B2Gold Corp and there are resources available. We have
ASX-listed Resolute Mining Ltd all boast major plans for economic development
Lamine Seydou Traore plus-200,000 ozpa gold operations in but they need exploration and develop-
the country and of the international min- ment of the mining industry to achieve.”
he Malian mining industry has shown ers, only ASX-listed Firefinch Ltd ran into Traore said the Government’s new Min-
Tremarkable resilience to keep going difficulties on the back of the sanctions, ing Act – enacted in 2019 – provided the
through a period of extreme instability for with its Morila mine underperforming as a base for growth with policies to improve
the West African country, with the Govern- result. Firefinch shares have been in sus- the cadastral system and power and wa-
ment now also pinning its hopes for recov- pension since August. ter infrastructure set to unlock more op-
ery to the sector’s performance. The sector’s performance has been portunity.
Mali has experienced three military a rare positive for the country and its “Mali remains an attractive investment
coups in the last 10 years, the most re- people, providing government revenues country and we are doing everything to
cent in May 2021, as the company bat- and employment and, according to Ma- promote the security of your people and
tles Islamist extremists and widespread lian Minister of Mines, Energy and Water your investment,” he said.

Syama roaster dilemma

finally solved

esolute Mining Ltd is pinning its hopes “It is no longer the bottleneck of the sul-
Rfor a sustained turnaround at its Syama phide circuit which it had been for a number
gold operations in Mali on the successful of years,” Warden said. “The task now is to
development of the 2 moz Syama North look at low capital expansion opportunities
discovery. at the mine and crushing circuit. Some of Doug Warden
Syama has been plagued by processing the new discoveries we have made are key “We drilled some deeper holes and got
issues for much of its 20-year existence but to those expansion opportunities.” good intersections in the sulphides,” Mowat
with the operation’s sulphide circuit per- The improved performance in the sul- said. “In recent drilling, we hit zones of up to
forming well following a recent refurbish- phide circuit has reinvigorated the Syama 90m @ 2.5 g/t, which gives me more confi-
ment, Resolute is confident it can ramp up exploration effort with Resolute executive dence for open pit potential.
production and drive down costs. general manager Bruce Mowat saying “We have a good idea of what the run-
“There have been operational improve- drilling was now focused on new sulphide of-mine head grade will be. It is the same
ments in last 12 months, led by changes in resources, particularly around the Syama head grade as Syama and the metallurgy
the operational team with Terry [Holohan, North project. is exactly the same. We expect to run an
new Resolute chief executive] bringing peo- “In the last four years, exploration has open pit to feed the sulphide operation in
ple in who he’s worked with before,” chief been focused on trying to extend the oxide the very near term and are currently work-
financial officer Doug Warden said. “They operation because it has been incredibly ing on a PFS. In the meantime, we continue
have tackled the sulphide circuit and in profitable,” Mowat explained. “But it is a to explore.”
particular the roaster which has presented case of diminishing returns and the things The brighter outlook is matched by more
challenges for a number of years. A ma- we are finding now are marginal. immediate improvements, with Warden
jor maintenance shutdown in February “Now that the roaster is running faster saying the company expected to produce
focused on the roaster and we have been than the Syama underground can run, 220,000oz gold from Syama in 2022 at
pleased with the results, with the roaster we’re in a position to feed extra ore through, $US1,425/oz AISC, in line with guidance.
running well since it came back online in so in the last year we decided to go back “We feel like we’ve got the operations un-
early April.” to sulphide exploration to increase through- der control, the trick now is to incrementally
As well as delivering underperforming put.” improve the production profile because that
gold recoveries, the roaster has acted as Having previously found and developed is the best way to improve the all-in sustain-
an impediment to growth at Syama. How- the Syama North oxide open pit, Resolute ing costs,” he said.
ever, the improved performance offers new returned to the project to test for sulphide
hope. mineralisation. – Dominic Piper

Page 26 OCTOBeR 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT