Mining investments in the west African country of Mali have helped the country increase its gold mining activity, most notably in the Kodieran mine, which is estimated to hold some 1.75-million ounces of recoverable gold in its deposits.
According to Mining Weekly, production at the mine, which is located 300 kilometers southeast of Bamanko, was scheduled to begin by the end of 2011, with a fleet of mining equipment necessary for production moving into the area about a year prior. The equipment operated successfully for a 12-month period, in which it produced roughly 1,000 tons of raw materials per day.
When the plant is completed, it will have the capacity to process about 11,000 tons per day of raw materials.
Germany’s Pearl Gold recently acquired a 25 percent stake in the mining company Wassoul’Or, which operates the Kodieran mine. The company said its mine engineers have concluded the operation will produce gold for the next six years, with strong potential for a mine life extension after that time frame.
Pearl Gold CEO Jean Louis Dupuy says he is confident that the growth potential of Mali’s mining industry will benefit the company well. He stated that Mali has become a major gold producer in the past few years, and has several new mines at final feasibility or commissioning stages that are implementing mine planning solutions. Since 2003, Mali has been the third-largest gold producer in Africa, behind South Africa and Ghana, the news source stated.
“Besides gold, the country has a rich variety of mineral commodities,” he said. “There are iron-ore, manganese, bauxite, uranium, phosphate and marble deposits.”
While the country’s mining industry is said to have major growth potential, Mali is still confronted by several challenges, including a lack of strong mining infrastructure, power and water sources.
Dupuy and Pearl Gold chairperson Robert F. Goninon say the development of infrastructure is what will be the most important improvement that will encourage foreign trade and support the exploitation of certain commodities.
“To enable efficient mining processes, transportation between the mining site and buyers, or further processing sites, has to be guaranteed,” the company said. “With the infrastructure established by Wassoul’Or, which includes an airstrip, safe transport from the mine to the buyer by airplane is guaranteed.”
Goninon added that as gold-mining reserves become more scarce around the world forcing companies to dig deeper, the cost of production will rise. However, Mali, which still has several unexploited resources that geological services have determined are topographically favorable to miners, will be able to exploit its resources through lower-cost openpit mining without expensive drilling and blasting.
In preparation for what could soon become a mining boom, the Mali government is looking to raise the state share in mining projects from 20 percent to 25 percent, Reuters reports.
The proposed revision to the country’s mining law still must be passed by parliament, but would cut taxes on mining income from 35 percent to 25 percent if passed. Several mining companies operate within the country, including Resolute Mining, Anglogold, Iamgold and Randgold.
The law was designed to help the country improve its basic infrastructure and services, such as wells and roads, said Mali’s Mines Minister Amadou Cisse, according to the news provider.
According to the news source, Mali’s gold revenues spiked in 2011 by more than 20 percent due to the rise in gold prices. The country relies on gold for about 70 percent of its export revenues, and accounts for 15 percent of its gross domestic product.
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