Tulawaka, in which Barrick holds a 70% interest and Montreal-based
The US$50-million development marks a departure for Barrick, which has tended to concentrate on larger operations and ones it owns solely. The Tulawaka resource falls below the million-ounce threshold historically adopted by large gold producers, but the proximity of the 350,000-oz.-per-year Bulyanhulu operation may make Tulawaka a suitable fit.
Feasibility studies of the deposit centred on a 135-metre-deep, 50-hectare open pit; the reserve is estimated to be 1.4 million tonnes with an average gold grade of 11.5 grams per tonne. The pit design’s stripping ratio was 18.3-to-1 and the reserve was based on a cutoff grade of 1.6 grams per tonne.
A Barrick spokesman told wire services in Dar es Salaam that an underground operation could follow open-pit mining.
Tulawaka would have a 1,000-tonne-per-day plant with a semi-autogenous grinding mill and gravity and carbon-in-leach extraction and recovery circuits. Consultants estimate the mine’s cash operating cost at US$168 per oz., and capital costs (without contingencies) are pegged at US$42.4 million. The mine would have a workforce of 200-300 people.
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