West African Resources Ltd recently conducted a competitive tender process for the engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) of the Sanbrado gold mine process plant and associated infrastructure in Burkina Faso. Following a detailed evaluation of bids, West African has signed a conditional Letter of Intent with Australian engineering company Lycopodium Ltd for the EPCM contract. The conditional Letter of Intent relates to the engineering and procurement (EP) portions for a new 2 Mt/y carbon-in-leach (CIL) treatment facility and other supporting infrastructure to be constructed at Sanbrado.
It is expected that the EPCM contract will be signed by the end of 2018, following agreement of the final terms and conditions and West African Resources board approval. Lycopodium is an Australian-headquartered engineering and project management consultancy that has completed the construction of more than a dozen gold development projects in West Africa since 2009. Lycopodium has a successful track record in Burkina Faso, recently delivering EPCM projects at the 3 Mt/y Hounde and 4 Mt/y Karma Upgrade gold projects for Endeavour Mining, 3 Mt/y Natougou gold project for Semafo, 4 Mt/y Bissa and 8 Mt/y Bouly gold projects for Nordgold and currently building the 2.5 Mt/y Wahgnion gold project for Teranga Gold Corp.
During the September quarter the company also conducted a competitive tender process for the supply and delivery of the SAG and ball mill package for Sanbrado. Following the evaluation of tenders, the company selected Outotec to supply the 4 MW semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill and 4 MW ball mill, principally due to their extensive experience with grinding mills especially in the size range required for Sanbrado. Outotec is a global mineral processing company that has extensive experience manufacturing and delivering over 200 grinding mills to sites worldwide over the last 20 years. More than 40 of these mills have been supplied to projects in West Africa. Outotec’s recent mill deliveries in West Africa include Endeavour Mining’s Ity (Côte d’Ivoire) and Hounde (Burkina Faso) gold projects and the Toro Gold’s Mako gold project (Senegal).
Optimisation of the process plant flowsheet has continued to advance since completion of the updated Feasibility Study in June. The company has confirmed that by increasing the size and power of both the SAG and ball mills to the levels being supplied by Outotec the throughput rate while feeding higher grade fresh (hard) ore can be increased to maintain a minimum feed rate of 250 t/h (2 Mt/y), up from 200 t/h (1.6 Mt/y) detailed in the June FS. For Sanbrado this mill package is will deliver a higher throughput than nameplate on a blend of oxide and fresh material. Optimisation of the mine schedule and plant design will incorporate the larger mill package and is on track to be completed by Q1 2019. A significant improvement in project economics versus the FS is expected by delivering more gold in the early years of the operation from an accelerated mine schedule with a relatively small change in the processing-plant capital requirements.
