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Burkina Faso

Bissa-Bouly Operation

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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SnapshotBissa and Bouly are open-pit gold mines located in Burkina Faso, West Africa with CIL and heapleaching technologies for gold processing.

In light of the sanctions and ongoing regulatory actions, Nord Gold PLC's production numbers for the year 2022 are not available.
Related AssetsBissa Mine, Bouly Mine

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Government of Burkina Faso 10 % Indirect
Nord Gold plc 90 % Indirect
Bissa Gold SA (operator) 100 % Direct
Nord Gold plc. owns 90% interest in the Bissa and Bouly mines through Bissa Gold SA and the remaining 10% is owned by the government of Burkina Faso.

Deposit type

  • Porphyry
  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

The Bissa and Bouly gold deposits all occur within an approximate 90 km NW-SE zone, comprising Birimian volcano-sedimentary rocks of the Boromo greenstone belt. The belt consists of mafic volcanic rock, minor felsic volcanic rock and extensive sedimentary units, intruded by Eburnean granitoids, all of which have undergone incipient to low greenschist facies metamorphism (Huot and Sattran, 1987).

The Bissa Hill, SW, IOSE, Z51, Z52 and Boken Zandkom deposits all fall within an approximate 9km NE-SW oriented corridor (“the Bissa-Zandkom corridor”) in the northeastern portion of the Boromo greenstone belt. This corridor comprises a series of interbedded argillaceousarenaceous sediments, alongside sequences of mafic volcanic rock. The thick metasedimentary sequence represents the principal host to mineralisation. Structurally, the lithological assemblage at Bissa-Zandkom appears to be tightly folded, with a broad NE to ENE trend, and is offset by several large-scale faults that trend NW-SE. At least two phases of deformation can be identified at the mine-scale, including an earlier D1 and later D2, resulting in a re-folded fold sequence.

Bouly, which lies to the southeast of Bissa, appears to represent a large, low grade gold-copper porphyry.

The Bouly deposit, approximately 9 km east of the Bissa-Zandkom corridor, is hosted by shear zones within metamorphosed metavolcanics, diorites and porphyritic diorites. The volcanosedimentary sequence is well foliated, with a NE-SW striking fabric. The meta-volcanics are intruded, and mostly replaced, by later diorite, granodiorite and porphyritic diorite bodies, which are not well foliated except in areas where extensive shearing has occurred. As per the BokenZandkom corridor, two phases of deformation are recognised. The earliest deformation phase is associated with NW striking, moderately SW dipping thrust structures. The second deformation phase is associated with NE striking, steeply SE dipping strike slip structures.

Mineralisation at the Bissa and Bouly deposits is primarily orogenic and structurally controlled, with a secondary lithological control. The most significant mineralised zones are associated with anastomosing networks of quartz and quartz-carbonate veins (or stacked, parallel “arrays” of veins) developed within major brittle-ductile shear zones. Two main types of mineralised veins are recognised within the deposits of the Bissa-Zandkom corridor; namely a) the main gold-bearing quartz veins in the central part of steep shear zones, which are often axial planar shears; and b) complex vein systems of gently inclined and steep extensional fractures, developed both within the shear zones barren wall rocks, and along folded bedding planes and lithological contacts. Similar mineralisation styles are observed across the Bissa-Bouly deposits.

Gold mineralisation is most commonly developed in either quartz-sulphide veining ± carbonates and tourmaline, or disseminated and fracture filling sulphides and magnetite. Across most deposits, the primary sulphide species is pyrite, with minor chalcopyrite and arsenopyrite and very rare native gold.

Boken Zandkom, IOSE, SW, Bissa Hill and Yimiougou all strike NE-SW, dipping moderatelysteeply to the NW. Bouly, Z51 and Z52 are also NE-SW striking, but dip steeply to the SE. All of the deposits of the Bissa-Zandkom corridor have a moderate north-easterly mineralisation plunge. Trends associated with the satellite deposits of Zinigma, Samtenga, Ronguen and Gougre are varied.

As is typical in the region, the Bissa and Bouly deposits are variably oxidised. The oxidation sequence typically comprises a thin (0 to 20 m) lateritic layer at surface, which overlies a welldeveloped oxidised saprolitic zone. This normally progresses into a transitional zone, comprising a mixture of saprolite and fresh bedrock, with un-altered fresh rock typically around 50 m to 125 m below surface. Secondary enrichment of gold within the laterite layer is common.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Production

CommodityUnits2021202020192018201720162015
Gold koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe254262320214235
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational metrics

Metrics202020192018201720162015
Stripping / waste ratio  ....  Subscribe3.6 3.5 3.2 5.3
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe12,502 kt12,148 kt12,041 kt7,466 kt4,545 kt
Waste  ....  Subscribe44,413 kt42,794 kt38,407 kt39,830 kt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe56,914 kt54,943 kt50,448 kt47,296 kt
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe12,191 kt12,602 kt11,980 kt7,476 kt4,097 kt

Production Costs

CommodityUnits2020201920182017
Total cash costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe 840 / oz **   743 / oz **   609 / oz **  
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe 1,069 / oz **   992 / oz **   744 / oz **  
** Net of By-Product.

Financials

Units20212020201920182017
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 86.9   85.6   43.6  
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 352.7   330.8   402.9  
EBITDA M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 138.4   136.8   209.6  
Operating Cash Flow M USD

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

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Aerial view:

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