Mining Intelligence and News
Burkina Faso

Boungou Mine

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Australia

Boungou Mine

Location: 322 km E from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Regional Office:

Arrondissement 12, Secteur 54, Parcelle 14 Lot 19, Section 281
Ouagadougou
Burkina Faso
11 BP 1196

Contacts:

Additional Resources for Suppliers & Investors

Categories

Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusCare and Maintenance
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Boungou mine is a high-grade open pit operation with significant exploration potential in the largely under-explored surrounding area.

Endeavour claimed in its 2023 financial results that Lilium failed to complete the payment for the sale of its 90% interests in the Burkina Faso Boungou and Wahgnion mines, leading to arbitration against Lilium and its subsidiaries. Lilium countered with complaints against Endeavour, including misrepresentation and breach of warranty. Lilium closed the purchase of the mining assets on 30 June 2023, but later discovered discrepancies in the financial and operative states of the mines.

Lilium has not had commercial production at Boungou since its acquisition, given its choice to place the mine under care and maintenance due to supply chain and security issues.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Government of Burkina Faso 10 % Indirect
Lilium Capital 90 % Indirect
SEMAFO Boungou S.A. (operator) 100 % Direct
The Boungou License is held by Semafo Boungou SA. Endeavour, indirectly through its subsidiary Semafo (Barbados) Ltd., holds a 90% stake in Semafo Boungou SA. The remaining 10% interest in Semafo Boungou SA is held by the State of Burkina Faso.

On June 30, 2023, Endeavour Mining plc closed the sale of its 90% interests in its Boungou non-core mine in Burkina Faso to Lilium Mining, a subsidiary of Lilium Capital.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

The Tawori exploration permit (initially the Boungou exploration permit), which contains the Boungou gold deposit, lies within the Diapaga greenstone belt, a northeast-southwest orientated belt that extends over 250 km in length and over 50 km in width. Endeavour holds four contiguous permits, collectively known as the Tapoa permit group, covering approximately 70 km in strike length along the Diapaga belt.

The stratigraphy at Boungou is relatively simple and quite consistent from hole to hole. The stratigraphy consists of two volcanic flows separated by a volcaniclastic unit. The footwall flow generally progresses upwards from a massive basalt flow to pillowed flows followed by flow breccia and volcaniclastics. The hangingwall is characterized by a medium grained volcanic flow (or sill). All these units are intruded by diorite and/or granodiorite sills, possibly originating from the felsic intrusion located immediately west of the deposit. Late dolerite dykes are also present and appear to be sub-vertical and strike northwest. The Boungou Shear Zone, which hosts the main gold mineralization at Boungou, is located at the contact between the footwall and hangingwall volcanic units, where the volcanic flow top breccias have formed and the volcaniclastics deposited. The contact zone is thought to have served as an area of weakness, focusing the deformation. While the volcaniclastic units are not always present (although the intensity of the alteration can make it difficult to identify), the flow top breccias are interpreted to be ubiquitous across the deposit area.

The Boungou gold deposit can be described as a West African shear zone hosted greenstone gold deposit. The main mineralized lode is interpreted as a flat-lying anticlinal shear that outcrops in the southeast and plunges gently to the northwest. The mineralization has a strike length of approximately 2 km, striking towards a bearing of 315° and an across-strike length of approximately 1 km (towards 45°). The mineralization is gently folded with the fold axis oriented along strike and the limbs dipping gently at approximately 15°.

Gold mineralization is associated with biotite and silica-sericite alteration, along with disseminated sulphides, such as pyrrhotite, pyrite and minor arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite, with occasional free gold. The mineralization is structurally controlled and is hosted primarily within a large shear zone and its associated alteration. Arsenopyrite is almost invariably associated with the presence of gold in assayed samples. The percent arsenopyrite logged can be used as an initial identification of the mineralized lode. Although not common, visible gold has been observed in core in some drill holes.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

Lilium has not had commercial production at Boungou since its acquisition June 30, 2023.
CommodityUnits202320222021202020192018
Gold koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe20564
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational metrics

Metrics20222021202020192018
Daily ore mining rate  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Daily processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,000 t4,000 t
Stripping / waste ratio  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe7.2 7.1
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,628 kt568.3 kt
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe11,651 kt4,035 kt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,000 kt368.1 kt
Daily mining capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,000 t of ore4,000 t of ore
Annual mining capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1.34 Mt of ore1.34 Mt of ore

Production Costs

CommodityUnits20222021202020192018
Total cash costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe 380 / oz   403 / oz  
Total cash costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe 497 / oz   596 / oz  
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

Currency20222021202020192018
OP mining costs ($/t mined) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Financials

Units20222021202020192018
Sustaining costs M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 25.2   10.5  
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 295.8   67  
Operating Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 122.5   22.8  

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 4, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 4, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 4, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 4, 2024

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2022
...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required 2020

Aerial view:

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