The Essakane Gold Mine occurs in the Paleoproterozoic Oudalan Gorouol greenstone belt in northeast Burkina Faso. The stratigraphy can be subdivided into a succession of lowergreenschist facies meta sediments (argillites, arenites, and volcaniclastics), conglomerate, and subordinate felsic volcanics, and an overlying Tarkwaian-like succession comprising siliciclastic meta-sediments and conglomerate. Each succession contains intercalated mafic intrusive units that collectively comprise up to 40% of the total stratigraphic section.

Gold prospects on the permits occur exclusively in Birimian rocks and are generally associated with quartz veining on the margins of mafic and intermediate sills. Exceptions are the Essakane main zone (EMZ) deposit and the Sokadie prospects (the latter on the Alkoma 2 permit). The EMZ deposit is characterized by quartz veining in a folded turbidite succession of arenite and argillite. At the Sokadie prospect, the veins occur in a sheared volcaniclastic unit between undeformed andesite and metasediments. Gold has generally been found to occur with quartz veining on the contacts of rock units with contrasted competency and as filling of brittle fractures in folded sediments.

The EMZ deposit is a greenstone hosted orogenic gold deposit. Specifically, it is a quartzcarbonate stockwork vein deposit hosted by a folded turbidite succession of arenite and argillite. The laminated sedimentary units are part of turbidite sequences. The reg ........

Mining is carried out using a conventional drill, blast, load, and haul surface mining method with an owner fleet.

Essakane consists of several operating sites. The EMZ main pit is mined in several mining phases and accounts for the majority of the production. The Falagountou, EMZ North, and South (Lao) satellite pits provide additional ore and operational flexibility.

Grade control is accomplished by RC drilling and sampling of the mineralized zone on a 10 m x 10 m pattern, or tighter, as required. For sterile sections of the pit, the grid may be widened out based on the nature of the contacts and/or other geological occurrences.

A fleet of four drill rigs are used for the 229 mm (9.0 inch) production blast holes. All blasting activities on site are executed by an explosives supplier. Holes are loaded with bulk explosive matrix and initiated with electronic detonators.

Grade movement during blasting is a critical issue at Essakane. For this reason, blast movement monitors (BMMs) are systematically used when blasting mineralized areas in order to measure vertical and horizontal displacement which allows for the adjustment of the post blast ore packets.

Waste material is being dumped in the WRDs located east of the main pit.

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