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Mali’s deep gold mining history means Firefinch can rely
on an overwhelmingly local workforce at Morila

growth stories. It may be that the hard work is only nine months may have caused some
“Even if it is not a West Af- just beginning, however. Morila began long-term retail shareholders angst, but
rican version of Northern Star contributing cash flow to Firefinch im- Anderson said funding is necessary if
in the medium term, it could mediately, with the gold tailings retreat- Firefinch is to realise the opportunity at
certainly be another Teranga, ment operation continuing through the Morila.
Perseus [Mining Ltd] or West ownership transition. The first Firefinch- “Substantial free cash flow will be
African [Resources Ltd],” imprinted gold bars were produced in generated from mining the main Morila
he told Paydirt. “They have November and by the end of the June orebody, that is where the growth will
grown into multibillion dol- quarter – with mining having restarted come from and most people can see the
lar companies because they at the satellite pits – the mine had pro- vision we have laid out,” he said. “We
got to 200,000 ozpa, and in duced 26,753oz for its new owner. had more than 20 new funds come onto
Perseus’ case beyond with Still, the main prize of the Morila ore- the register through the placement.”
several mines. Morila on its body lays in wait. In June, Firefinch an- Like Northern Star and Evolution’s ac-
own can produce the ounces nounced a successful $US47 million quisitions in Australia, Firefinch is confi-
and the free cash flow to be placement to North American, European dent it can identify cost savings majors
a launching pad for growth. and Australian institutions to speed up find simply impossible to achieve.
And the team is of the size development work in the Morila pit. “Our stated life-of-mine AISC is
and quality that picking up “There is a lot of work to do, and the $US1,124/oz. We believe that is con-
additional assets is not a far- next 18 months will be pivotal for Morila servative but have to demonstrate it,”
fetched idea. So, emulating and the company,” Anderson said. “The Anderson said. “It was based on the
Perseus and the like is a re- real prize is to get into Morila as quickly historical Barrick data and while we still
alistic near-term goal for Fire- as we can and to do that we need to have to prove it, we believe we can re-
finch. It is all reachable in two ramp-up the dewatering, drilling and duce it by 10-15%.
to four years.” pre-stripping. The satellite deposit min- “The most you can do on any gold
Such a clear growth op- ing is helpful but not life-changing, al- operation is to minimise costs and max-
portunity is what enticed An- though it does allow us to cut our teeth imise margins. That’s what gold mining
derson back into the realm of and get back into mining mode.” comes down to. There is no complexity
mining after a decade with Ahead of the capital raising, Anderson in the mining or the processing, the only
private equity group Taurus undertook his first site visit to Mali, a rar- complexity comes with the volumes we
Funds Management. ity in these times of COVID lockdowns are dealing with but that has been done
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to and border restrictions. before.”
be an executive again,” he said. “It was easily one of the most enjoy- In May, the company updated its life-
“But then I received a call from able site visits of my career,” he said of of-mine production plan, taking in 1.45
a head-hunter asking if I’d be the trip. “When you go there, you real- moz gold production @ 1.5 g/t over a 10-
interested in a role with a West
for many years – it was abundantly clear “ When you go there, you realise it’s not just
African junior. I was inclined to
say no but when they told me it
was Firefinch I admitted some
interest.
a resource but the plant and infrastructure,
“Then, having spoken to
Alistair and [non-executive director]
the workforce – it is a ‘proper’ mine, built by a
Mark Hepburn – both of who I’d known
it was a fantastic opportunity and within major and it still feels like that.
nine days I had signed on.”
Anderson is conscious that he is join-
ing a team which has already proven ca- ise it’s not just a resource but the plant year mine life. However, with the N’Tiola,
pable of pulling off major deals. and infrastructure, the workforce – it is a Viper and Pit 5 satellite orebodies al-
“All credit to Alistair and the team for ‘proper’ mine, built by a major and it still ready showing more gold, the company
what they have achieved,” he said. “The feels like that. is confident Morila can grow and expand
$US30 million price tag looks like a steal “When you start talking to the drillers in the next few years.
but remember, it was still way bigger and the operations team onsite it is ex- “We will be able to update the life-of-
than the market cap at the time and it has citing and reinforces all the enthusiasm. mine model as we become informed by
been nothing short of transformative for We are not talking about a greenfields the drilling, productions, costs, etc,” An-
the company. opportunity to get to 100,000 ozpa. This derson said. “We have had success in
“Mali Lithium really was on the bones mine produced more than 1 mozpa in drilling the satellite deposits so we are
of its arse. It was out of money, out of run- its heyday. It may not get back there but confident we can do the same at Morila
way and was staring at a lithium market 150-200,000 ozpa is a very real target. itself. This operation can run for decades
where the tide was going out. Then along If anything, I have doubled-down on my to come, not just the 7-10 year mine life
comes the opportunity to acquire Morila conviction since visiting.” we have in front of us currently.”
and the company went with it.” A second large capital raising inside The mine was renowned for its ultra

AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT AUGUST 2021 PAGE 21