The Kalana. Kalanako and Djirila gold deposits occur within Birimian aged volcanosedimentary sequence of rocks that are known to host several Eburnean orogenic gold deposits. The Kalana study area is underlain by geology considered to be similar to that of the surrounding Birimian-age volcano-sedimentary sequences. Orogenic gold deposits in West Africa are shear hosted and developed along strike-slip fault systems linked to late stage, non-orthogonal. crustal thinning.

Mineralisation is structurally and lithologically controlled in association with regional- scale deformation zones. Gold mineralisation within this type of deposit often has a high fraction of coarse gold, significantly increasing the variability of the mineralisation and grade. In the Kalana-Yanfolila volcano-sedimentary basin, the dominance of low porosity brittle lithologies favour quartz vein-related mineralisation; the mid-crust level of initial emplacement favours mesothermal type gold deposits.

Gold mineralisation occurs within a stacked set of quartz veins and stockworks hosted by the Birimian age meta-sediments, and the intrusive diorite stock and trend northwest-southeast. The mineralised vein system extends over an area of about 1,200 m east by 1,000 m north and current exploration information suggests it to be restricted to a block bound by northwest and northeast trending faults. Mineralisation has been identified by diamond drilling from surface down to a depth of 600 m, the limit of drilling.

The Kalana deposit contains several mineralised bodies that can display four types of mineralisation:
1)Flat dipping (an average dip of less than 35°) quartz veins and vein sets in the meta-sediments and diorite stock
2)Steeply dipping quartz veins and vein zones (an average dip of more than 70°)
3)Disseminated mineralisation (around both flat and steeply dipping veins)
4)Stockwork mineralisation at the contact of the diorite.

The mine plan provides for mining production from the Kalana Open Pit deposit, from a single open pit with 12 stages. The most appropriate mining method is conventional open pit mining using trucks and excavators.

Kalana processing plant design is based on a typical two stage crushing and ball milling circuit and gravity recovery followed by a CIL plant, electrowinning and gold smelting. This process flowsheet is well known in industry. and has historically been proven as a processing route for various gold ores.

The primary jaw crusher product will bypass the secondary crusher when treating saprolite or highly weathered feedstock, while more competent saprock feedstock and fresh ore feeds will be routed to a closed circuit secondary crusher prior to entering the milling circuit.

A gravity recovery circuit will treat the full ball mill discharge to recover coarse free gold from the mill recirculating load. The gravity concentrate will be treated in an Acacia reactor to leach out gravity gold which will be recovered in the electrowinning circuit Gravity tailings will be returned to the mill classification circuit.

The milled product (cyclone overflow) will gravitate to a GIL circuit, via a waste removal screen. The CIL section will consist of a pre-oxidation stage followed by a six stage CIL plant. Loaded carbon will be directed to the elution circuit while tailings will gravitate to the cyanide detox section. The tailings are then pumped to the TSF. Adsorbed gold will be eluted from the activated carbon by means of a heated solution of sodium cyanide and caustic soda via the split Anglo American Research Laboratories (AARL) elution procedure. Barren carbon from the batch elution process will be directed to carbon regeneration. while pregnant leach solution will be routed to electrowinning. After washing the gold sludge from the electrowinning cathodes the sludge will be dried and smelted into gold bars for dispatch, The plant will further incorporate water treatment, reagent preparation, oxygen generation and supply, compressed air and water services.