WINDHOEK – B2Gold Namibia says the construction phase of its Otjikoto project is on schedule and within budget although ore grade material will not be mined until December this year.
“It is expected that a major portion of the work on the tailings facility will be completed by the end of the year. The entire tailings facility project will encompass 1.5 million cubic meters of earth movement”, said Gretha du Plessis, the public relations manager for B2Gold Namibia. She added that the tailings team is 40 percent complete with placing the impermeable liner in the entire tailings dam, which will be a lined facility with an area of approximately 140 hectares.
Excavation at the mill area is 85 percent complete and a concrete batch plant has been erected to assist with the pouring of foundations. A total of about 15 000 cubic metres of concrete will be poured during the construction and some of the office buildings for the mill area have already been completed by an Otavi contractor. Most of the equipment and supplies to build the mill have been ordered and some are already en route.
To date, the pit area has been de-bushed and topsoil has been stripped from the mine and waste dump area. The topsoil is stockpiled so that the area can be re-vegetated after mine closure. The total volume of the material that has been moved from the pit area thus far is approximately 1.7 million tonnes. The soil will be used to either build roads or to build embankments at the tailings facility.
Du Plessis explained that a construction camp about two kilometres northeast of the mine has become operational to house construction workers at the Otjikoto site. It will eventually house up to 800 workers, although a large percentage of the workforce comes from Otavi and Otjiwarongo and are bussed to the site on a daily basis. This camp will only be operational during the construction phase.
The Otjikoto gold project is located approximately 300 kilometres north of Windhoek between Otjiwarongo and Otavi and is owned 90 percent by B2Gold and 10 percent by EVI Mining, a Namibian empowerment group. Construction commenced in January 2013 and will continue into the fourth quarter of 2014. It is anticipated that gold will be produced during the fourth quarter of 2014 with a ramp up to full production in 2015.
The life of the open pit mine, based on the probable reserves, is estimated to be 12 years, with annual forecast gold production of approximately 141 000 ounces of gold per year for the first five years and for the life of mine approximately 112 000 ounces of gold per year. During production the site will require more than 500 full time workers.
By Edgar Brandt