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Burkina Faso

Youga Operation

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Categories

Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusTemporary Suspension
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotAvesoro Holdings Ltd., a private equity firm, acquired Youga and Balogo mines in December 2018. Mine operations data has not been publicly available since then.

In 2022, mining was suspended as the security of staff could not be guaranteed at the time of political unrest in Burkina Faso.
Related AssetsBalogo Mine, Youga Mine

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Government of Burkina Faso 10 % Indirect
MNG Group 90 % Indirect
Youga was acquired by the Avesoro Resources Inc. on 18 December 2017.

Avesoro Resources was delisted at TSX in January 2020.

After suspended and the meetings with the Government of Companies, the mines and projects were sold to one of local Burkina Mining Company.

Deposit type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Mesothermal
  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

The gold deposits within the Youga, Ouaré and Balogo properties can be described as epigenetic, mesothermal (“lode”) gold deposits, demonstrating a strong structural control and relationship to regional scale shear zones. Similar deposits can be found in other areas of the late Proterozoic Birimian terranes of West Africa.

At Youga and Ouaré, gold mineralisation is intimately associated with pervasive silicification, quartz veining and sulphidation (predominantly pyrite), although sulphide content is extremely low (generally <1%).

The majority of the Youga gold deposits are hosted within the Tarkwaian sandstones, while Ouaré is hosted along the sheared contact between mafic volcanics to the north and quartz-feldspar porphyritic rocks to the south.

At Balogo, gold mineralisation is typically associated with networks of quartz mineralisation or associated with disseminated sulphides within strongly deformed alteration zones.

Within the Youga deposit, there are two distinct styles of mineralisation:
• Moderately to weakly silicified arkose with quartz stockwork veining and pyrite is the predominant sulphide which generally grades between 0.5 g/t and 2 g/t
• Intensely silicified arkose with abundant quartz veins and more diverse sulphides which generally grades >3 g/t.

The Ouaré mineralisation is on the Bitou 2 Exploration Permit and has been delineated in three zones, along a strike length of 2 km.

At the Ouaré Main zone, mineralisation occurs as quartz veins within shear zones at the contacts between felsic and mafic volcanics. Orpailleur workings have been developed along mineralised structures in two orientations: 090° and 315°. The 090° portion of these workings have multiple parallel quartz veins along shears in an interpreted dilation zone. The 315° portion is interpreted as a 100 m wide deformation zone, terminating the 090° trend.

The gold mineralisation appears to preferentially follow the lithologic contacts between felsic volcanics and mafic volcanics, particularly within a shear zone of inter layered quartz-feldspar porphyritic and intermediate to mafic volcanic rocks. Gold mineralisation appears to be confined to a major 090° trending deformation corridor of dextral strike slip.

At Balogo, there have been at least three distinct mineralisation styles recognised. These include:
• High-grade gold mineralisation (+/- Cu, Bi, Te) hosted in a sequence of diorites (as defined by drilling at the Netiana deposit over a length of approximately 500 m to a depth of approximately 250 m). Mineralisation is restricted to a single dioritic unit which has a structurally-controlled hangingwall contact with a distinct unit of chloritic metasediments. High gold grades are typically associated with quartz veining within the dioritic rocks.
• Massive magnetite associated copper-gold mineralisation. This style of mineralisation outcrops near Cobra Hill and occurs as generally massive magnetite (+/- copper) gold mineralisation. Mineralisation is probably shear controlled and generally is hosted in metasediments immediately above the structural contact between metasediments and dioritic intrusives.
• Copper-gold mineralisation associated with
disseminated cumulate magnetite in a porphyritic intrusive. Mineralisation consists of disseminated magnetite, pyrite to chalcopyrite in a moderately to strongly silicified porphyritic dyke. The dyke is around 40 m thick, strikes east-northeast and dips steeply west. Broad zones of low-grade copper/gold mineralisation are erratically distributed within the dyke unit.

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

CommodityUnits20182017
Gold oz 110,751115,894
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational metrics

Metrics20182017
Ore tonnes mined 969 kt870 kt
Waste 14,472 kt8,645 kt
Total tonnes mined 15,441 kt9,515 kt
Tonnes processed 1,237 kt1,200 kt
Stripping / waste ratio 9.9

Production Costs

CommodityUnits2017
Cash costs (sold) Gold USD 512 / oz  
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD 760 / oz  

Financials

Units2017
After-tax Income M USD 1.3  

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Sep 20, 2024

Aerial view:

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