Mining Intelligence and News
Burkina Faso

Essakane Mine

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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SnapshotThe Essakane 2024 LOM plan is based on the completion of five different mining phases:
• Essakane Main Zone (EMZ): three phases, Phases 5, 6, 7;
• Gourouol: located to the north of the EMZ pit;
• Lao: located to the south of the EMZ pit.

The IAMGOLD completed a study to assess the viability of the Essakane heap leach project. The test results suggested that stockpiled ore can be processed through the CIL circuit economically and as a result the IAMGOLD will not be pursuing the heap leach project. The IAMGOLD is planning to include the results of the study in an updated NI 43-101 compliant technical report that will be filed in the first half of the year.

Terrorist activities in Burkina Faso and Mali present a serious security risk to the IAMGOLD’s operations, supply chains and its personnel in these countries. The safety and security of the IAMGOLD's personnel is of paramount concern. These security risks are resulting in increased costs for securing Essakane.
Related AssetEssakane (CIL, HL) Project

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Government of Burkina Faso 10 % Indirect
IAMGOLD Corp. 90 % Indirect
Essakane S.A. (operator) 100 % Direct
IAMGOLD, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Essakane S.A., owns 90% of the Project, with the government of Burkina Faso holding the remaining 10%.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

The deposits are characterized by multiple quartz and quartz–carbonate vein sets and stringers. Vein arrays occur in the east limb, fold hinge (or fold axis), and west limb lithostructural domains. Arsenopyrite and pyrite tend to be late, and are concentrated near the margins of the veins or in cross-cutting stringers.

Faults reactivated during the D1 and D2 regional deformation events provide the structural control on the mineralization.

Gold mineralization is associated with thrust faults or shear zones with brecciated, banded, sheared quartz veins and boudins within highly silicified zones.

Mineralized bodies form as subvertical, or slightly inclined to the east, and consist of lenses, quartz stockwork and/or quartz–carbonate veins. The preferred emplacement is on the fold hinge or the limbs (EMZ, Tassiri, Gourara) or along shear corridors (Gossey, Korizena, Sokadie).

Essakane (EMZ, Essakane Nord, Gourouol)
The EMZ deposit is about 3,000 m long. Mineralization has an average thickness of approximately 200 m. Mineralization has been intercepted at 600 m vertically below surface; however, the deposit remains open at depth and along strike.

The Essakane Nord and Gourouol deposits are situate immediately north of the EMZ deposits. The Essakane Nord deposit is mined out. The mineralized zone was approximately 400 m in length, averaged about 40 m in thickness, and was intercepted to 200 m depths below surface. The Gourouol deposit is being infill drilled. It is approximately 300 m in length, averages about 30 m in thickness, and has been intercepted to 125 m depths below surface.

The EMZ deposit is characterized by multiple quartz and quartz-carbonate vein sets and stringers.

Vein arrays occur in the east limb, fold hinge (or fold axis), and west limb lithostructural domain.

Except for vein sets located in the turbidite-hosted Birimian sills, all recorded vein sets are mineralized. The east–west and north–south vein sets both appear to exhibit higher average gold grades than the other vein sets; however, they are also more variable, with a higher proportion of the lower values also appearing in the same vein sets. Tests conducted in December 2010, over three areas inside the pit with oriented grade control drilling, have demonstrated that the grade difference between holes oriented 242° (initial drill pattern) and 120° (later pattern that intersects more of both vein sets) can be as high as 9%.

Continuity of mineralization in the steep west limb is poor. The mineralization is usually low grade due to the frequency of white, late-stage extensional quartz veins with visible gold; however, there are a few east–west extensional veins cross-cutting the west limb that have been worked by artisanal miners. Gold dissemination into the wall rock is rare, and gold is largely confined to the early stage, bedding parallel, and conjugate veins sets.

Gold occurs as free particles within the veins and is also intergrown with arsenopyrite ± tourmaline on vein margins or in the host rocks. Gold is typically coarse. Visible gold particles have been recorded during core logging within and on the margins of quartz veins, intergrown with coarse arsenopyrite, and as isolated grains in the host rock.

Gold particles occur without sulphides in the weathered saprolite.

The gold is free milling in all associations. Disseminated arsenopyrite in the host rock rapidly decreases away from the veins and is strongly associated with the gold mineralization. The same relationship is seen away from lithological contacts, which generally show higher densities of bedding-parallel veining. Oriented core drilling shows that significant concentrations of gold with arsenopyrite can be found in the arenite-argillite lithological contacts in association with quartz veining or in veinlets of massive arsenopyrite. Deeper below the main arenite unit, significant concentrations of gold are found in association with coarse arsenopyrite in the argillitic unit.

In the Essakane North ant Gourouol deposits, gold mineralization is associated with quartz carbonate stockwork veins hosted by a folded turbidite succession of arenite and argillite.

Lao
The deposit is about 900 m long. Mineralization has an average thickness of 60 m. The deposit has been drill tested to 300 m. It remains open at depth and along strike.

Gold mineralization is associated with zones of complex networks of fracture systems filled by quartz and quartz-carbonate. Pyrite and arsenopyrite are observed associated with gold.

Gossey
The Gossey deposit is located about 15 km northwest of the Essakane Mine.

The deposit is about 2,700 m long. Mineralization has an average thickness of 40 m, and has been drill tested to about 150 m depth. The deposit remains open at depth and along strike.

Gold mineralization is associated with brecciated, banded, sheared quartz veins and boudins within highly-silicified zones.

Mineralized bodies occur as subvertical, or slightly inclined to the east, lenses of quartz vein stockworks, and quartz-carbonates associated with pyrite, arsenopyrite, and more rarely, pyrrhotite. The mineralized structures are typically oriented at N10° with a subordinate direction of N35°.

Mineralogical studies identified interstitial gold (with traces of silver) in the quartz grain edges, associated with sulphides such as pyrite, arsenopyrite, and pyrrhotite. Many grains of gold occluded in these minerals were also observed. Gold grain sizes were variable, ranging from as small as small as <5 µm to 10–30 µm.

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

CommodityUnits2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Gold koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe409 450 432 419 426 
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré. ^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational metrics

Metrics2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe10.8 Mt10.8 Mt
Stripping / waste ratio  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2.2 2.7 3 3.3 3.2
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe17,702 kt13,866 kt11,811 kt10,921 kt11,519 kt
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe38,605 kt36,825 kt35,697 kt35,983 kt37,368 kt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe56,307 kt50,691 kt47,508 kt46,904 kt48,887 kt
Tonnes milled  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe13,373 kt13,031 kt13,891 kt12,006 kt11,716 kt
^ Guidance / Forecast.

Production Costs

CommodityUnits2023202220212020201920182017
Cash costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe 805 / oz **   663 / oz **   686 / oz **  
Total cash costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 866 / oz  
Total cash costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe 871 / oz **   718 / oz **   738 / oz **  
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,028 / oz **   1,002 / oz **   957 / oz **  
** Net of By-Product.

Financials

Units20242023202220212020201920182017
Capital expenditures (planned) M USD  ....  Subscribe
Sustaining costs M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 39   102.5   68.3  
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 101   158.2   82.4  
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 579.2   564.1   547.4  
Operating Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 172.8   84   74.7  

Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 17, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Sep 30, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 15, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 15, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 15, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 15, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 15, 2024

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2023
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2022
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required 2020

Aerial view:

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