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killed and more than 60 people out.”
wounded when gunmen There was a marked
ambushed the convoy effect on operations.
transporting workers to Sanbrado produced
Bongou. 45,000oz in the Sep-
“It did create prob- tember quarter, a 40%
lems regards the fi- increase on the June
nancing,” Hyde said. quarter. Hyde said with
“Macquarie, the lead the staffing problems ad-
Australian lender, dressed, he expects pro-
couldn’t get clear- duction to continue to in-
ance to go to site and crease in the December
it makes you question quarter.
whether you can com- WAF has a team in place eager to build more mines “We expect Novem-
plete the deal.” ber/December to be
WAF adjusted to the night we were flying out of Ouagadougou closer to full production
new realities, updating protocols to en- on our way to Brussels. By the time we [220,000 ozpa at $US650/oz],” he said.
sure the safety of staff, contractors and got to Brussels, the pandemic was very “That is with cash costs of $US1,200/oz
visitors alike. real.” in the June quarter and $US1,000/oz last
The security issues didn’t halt con- Hyde and the management team may quarter and expect under that in the De-
struction at Sanbrado, which continued have managed to scramble back home cember quarter and onto $US650/oz late
serenely throughout 2019. Hyde puts the but key personnel working on the mine next year.”
immaculate execution down to the own- were forced to make unexpected com- With the path to nameplate production
er’s team, led by Wilcox, and the com- mitments to the operation. clear, WAF has found time to begin con-
pany’s decision to surround itself with the Hyde is quick to celebrate and thank sidering its next moves. The exploration
best contractors and consultants. the WAF team for the dedication during drill rigs began turning for the first time in
“We completed the build ahead of time the unsettling period. four years earlier this year as the com-
and below budget because of Matt and “COVID made it very difficult to hire pany targets extensions to M1 South and
his team,” he said. “They’ve built three people, particularly for the underground other targets capable of filling out the
mines before in Burkina Faso and we did mine,” he said. “We had to give Byrnecut back end of Sanbrado’s 10-year produc-
all the early work ourselves – the con- approval to have more people, particu- tion profile.
crete, the early civils. So, by the time Ly- larly for development rigs. Current reserves from M1 South are
copodium got to site, things were already “We had some people on site for six set to be depleted by Year 4 of operations
running smoothly. but Hyde is confident the ore-
“We put together a team of body will be extended.
good, high-quality consult- “It is unusual to have an
ants and professionals, most underground mine with more
of whom I’ve known for 10 than four or five years of re-
or even 20 years. Then you serves,” he said. “We are not
have the quality of groups going to start infill drilling from
like Lycopodium and the surface, so we are currently
plant equipment we used pushing the outline to get the
– mills from Outokumpo, deeper mineralisation at M1
crushers from Metso; it is all South into the mine plan.
top-quality gear.” “That back end will be filled
The mine was delivered out by a bit of everything; M1
ahead of schedule and un- South at depth, Toega [the
der budget in the first half company’s latest acquisition]
of 2020. On March 18, the and even M5 at depth where
company poured first gold there is potential for under-
at Sanbrado, well ahead of ground.”
original schedule. But even The restarted exploration
this momentous occasion is already delivering results,
proved once again WAF’s with hits underneath the cur-
ability to shake off unfortu- Visible gold was identified at 858.5m in TAN20-DD236 rent M1 South reserve, includ-
nate timing. ing 15.5m @ 20 g/t. Several
“The first gold pour was set assays were still being pro-
for March but even that we had to bring months straight. It became very tricky cessed at the time of print, but Hyde was
forward by three or four days because and we did have some people who were confident a new reserve/resource update
we had been told the border was about to not coping well. We had to get them off- would be provided before the end of the
close as the pandemic took hold,” Hyde site and we managed to get people out. year.
said. “So, we poured first gold, went and We had really good support from the “One of these pleasing things is there
had a few celebratory drinks and by that Federal Government and we were one of is still visible gold at 831m, so there is no
the first companies to get approval to get

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT DeCeMBeR 2020 - JaNUaRY 2021 Page 29