A feasibility study for High River Gold Mines (HRG-T) concludes that the Taparko gold deposit in eastern Burkina Faso, along with the neighbouring Bouroum deposit held by Axmin (AXM-V) can be mined economically.
The study, partly done by consultants and partly in-house by High River, examined the economics of an open-pit operation exploiting both deposits and a shared mill. Three open pits would be mined on the Taparko property and three smaller and higher-grade pits on Bouroum.
The study calculated a capital cost of US$51.9 million for the mine, mill, tailings disposal area, and infrastructure. Operating costs were estimated at US$17.24 per tonne, and cash production costs at US$204 per oz.
The three Taparko pits share a combined resource of 6.8 million tonnes grading 2.8 grams gold per tonne. The Bouroum pits enclose a reserve of 861,000 tonnes grading 3.97 grams gold per tonne. The average stripping ratio at Taparko would be 4.4, and at Bouroum, 7.2.
The project’s plant whose design was based on recent metallurgical testing of Taparko mineralization and previous testing of Bouroum material, would have a semi-autogenous grinding mill with a secondary ball mill, feeding gravity and carbon-in-leach recovery circuits.
High River holds an 80% interest in Taparko, with the government of Burkina Faso holding the rest. High River and Axmin are in negotiations for Axmin’s sale of its 92% interest in Bouroum, which it acquired from Channel Resources (CHU-T).
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