OTJIKOTO – B2Gold Namibia, which is hard at work constructing the Otjikoto Gold Mine about 60km north of Otjiwarongo last month received approval from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to construct a power plant on-site.
The mine’s management is now working with the Electricity Control Board to receive technical approval for the on-site power plant. According to Bill Lytle, the mine is also working on a feasibility study to include solar power to provide energy for the mine’s production processes. The majority of the mine’s power demand will be used by the two-stage milling process that has a throughput design capacity of 304 tonnes per hour and will require 4000 kW of electricity. During an open day held at the mine this week, Lytle told farmers in the area and media that the construction phase of the project is on schedule and on budget. “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 project.
“Some of the office buildings for the mill area have already been completed by an Otavi contractor, while most of the equipment and supplies to build the mill have been ordered and some are already en route,” said Lytle. 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 metres of earth movement. Mining Manager, Gerson Shipena, explained that the tailings team is 40 percent complete with placing the impermeable liner. The entire tailings dam will be a lined facility with an area of approximately 140 hectares. To date, the mine’s pit area has been de-bushed and the topsoil 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 so far is approximately 1.7 million tonnes. The soil will be used to either build roads or to build embankments at the tailings facility. “Ore grade material will not be mined until December”, Shipena remarked.
The Otjikoto gold project is owned 90 percent by B2Gold and 10 percent by EVI Mining (Proprietary) Ltd, a Namibian empowerment group. Construction commenced January 2013 (with a ground-breaking ceremony in April this year 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 an annual forecast gold production of approximately 141 000 ounces 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 around 480 full-time workers. Lytle this week said the life of mine could be extended by 3 to 4 years due to the discovery of an additional vein in the north-east corner of the mine.
By Edgar Brandt