AFRICAN UNDERGROUND MINING SERVICES
AFRICAN UNDERGROUND MINING SERVICES
Top of the Pile in
African Mining PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder
Possessing the largest company-owned fleet of mechanised equipment in the world, Ghana-based African Underground Mining Services (AUMS) is a full service underground mining contractor. Backed by a team of operators highly skilled in the art of employing its technology safely, its expertise has led to the award of numerous notable mining contracts across Africa.
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A track record of exceeding productivity targets without compromising safety has helped to position African Underground Mining Services at the forefront of one of Africa’s most highly competitive sectors. It vows to only invest in the latest and best mining technology and personnel and employ world-class practices and is, in its own words, “confident we can outperform traditional owner-operator underground mining operations tonne-for-tonne, improving the overall profitability of mining projects.” To facilitate this performance it holds an extensive, flexible fleet of mechanised, high-speed machinery, enabling rapid mobilisation to site and provide a highly efficient and safe
operating environment. The option to make use of this top of the line equipment means that clients are not, as a result, required to finance and maintain their own fleet, in turn reducing risk and capital outlay. Throw into the bargain African Underground Mining Services’s teams of highly trained and experienced machine operators, with the technical capability and safety values to deliver maximum productivity without compromising safety, and it is easy to see why so many clients have made AUMS their mining contractor of choice. The company’s operations are split into two distinct divisions, namely underground mining and mine management. Within both is a comprehensive range of services, from
consulting and feasibility management right through to mine development and production. The high speed mechanised equipment and experienced personnel at its disposal combine to deliver what it strongly believes to be the best, most comprehensive underground mining service in Africa. AUMS’s specialist skills are copious, spanning narrow vein mining - both handheld and mechanised - through to high-speed horizontal development. AUMS offers a similarly broad range of contracting services, encompassing the full spectrum of requirements for any project. By way of example, its joint venture partners’ years of expertise in the management and operation of jumbo development projects enables it to offer the Continues on page 58 www.enterprise-africa.net / 3
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INDUSTRY FOCUS: MINING
Continues from page 55 highest standards in high-speed decline access mining. This technique is increasingly being proven as the optimal solution for many mines in Africa, as the rapid development of the decline enables early access to and mining of underground reserves. A large fleet of underground mechanised equipment gives AUMS leading technical capability in decline mining, as does engaging the best operators in the industry, to deliver the highest productivity and quality of finished product. African Underground Mining Service has worked in Africa on both new and existing projects with some of the biggest resource companies in the world. It has striven tirelessly to construct a reputation centred around working closely with clients to develop tailored project solutions, which will ultimately optimise productivity and profitability. The company’s underground work in Africa began in 2007, since which time it has been involved with some crucial projects in the likes of Mali, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and Ghana. It is in Ghana that AUMS is perhaps currently most active, performing underground development and diamond drilling at both the Bibiani and Subika operations, as well as production at the latter. The Bibiani gold project is an underground mine located in the western region of Ghana, whose mineral concessions are located approximately 80km south-west of Kumasi, the capital city of the Ashanti Region. The gold mine is found within a series of fine-grained graded turbidites - referring to the geologic deposit of a turbidity current containing localised interbeds of fine to medium-grained turbiditic sandstones. The Bibiani gold mine is estimated to contain likely ore reserves in the region of 5.4 million tonnes (Mt), which would give rise to 640,000oz of gold. Mensin Gold Bibiani Limited
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(MGBL), a subsidiary of Resolute Mining, has been the owner of the project since its transfer from Noble Mineral Resources in June 2014. An estimated 100,000 tons of ore is expected to be mined each month, which includes approximately 25,000t of waste and a total rock movement of 125,000t. Ore from the mine will then be processed at the existing plant at the site, where it will be primarily crushed and delivered to the reclaim stockpile. Frontend loaders (FEL) will be used as a final step to reclaim the stockpiled crushed ore and feed this into the one million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) milling circuit. This project is expected to produce up to 1.2 Mtpa of underground ore, alongside approximately 100,000oz of gold a year over its initial five year operating lifetime. Between September 2015 and February 2016, AUMS’s 23-strong team completed thousands of kilometres of drilling through the old workings of the Bibiani gold mine, forming part of an extensive feasibility study to better delineate the underground resource. At its conclusion, Resolute Mining MD and CEO John Welborn commented that, “Bibiani is a key growth asset for the company, and the completion of the feasibility study and the establishment of our first ore reserve at the project is an important milestone. “We are delighted with the results of the study which demonstrate a viable development plan for Bibiani, competitive costs, and excellent upside potential. “The feasibility study is a major improvement on the scoping study completed a year ago and demonstrates the potential for even better results. In the current environment of rising gold prices Bibiani offers the company an increasingly attractive growth opportunity. Further successful exploration to upgrade and extend
the ore body will boost project economics, extend the mine life and further enhance value.” Located in Kenyasi in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo Region, and representing second of AUMS’s primary African concerns, the Subika underground mine is being developed by Newmont Ghana Gold. African Underground Mining Services found itself heavily involved in developing the project into a state-of-the-art production mine, after the successful completion of Stage 2 exploration works. The current Scope of works explains the need of 200 AUMS personnel, calling as it does for 48,000m of development, 1.2Mt of Production, 164,000m of diamond drilling, 5000m of vertical development and
AFRICAN UNDERGOUND MINING SERVICES
installation of underground conveying and crushing infrastructure to sustain a 2.0 Mtpa production rate. African Underground Mining Services was awarded the Subika underground mining contract at Newmont Ghana Gold’s Ahafo complex in Ghana in April this year. The five-year contract entails the supply of all underground mining services for the Subika underground mine – including development and production activities, diamond drilling and associated services. It comes with an estimated value of US$280 million, and this expansion of Newmont Ghana Gold’s Ahafo location aims to extend profitable production at the existing operation by building a new underground mine
and expanding plant capacity by more than 50%. The Subika underground mine is expected to produce 1.8 Moz of gold over an 11-year mine life, while the mill expansion is geared toward increasing capacity to nearly 10 Mt by adding a crusher, grinding mill and leach tanks to the circuit. This combination is expected to entail much improved margins while also supporting profitable production at Ahafo through to at least 2029. The Subika expansion project team is progressing the project ahead of schedule and is actively looking at innovative ways to advance the project to be Newmont’s first underground mine in Africa. “We are building on strong performance
and solid infrastructure by investing in the next generation of profitable production at Ahafo,” summated Gary Goldberg, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The Subika Underground mine will also create a platform to support even longer-term growth. Recent exploration results demonstrate considerable upside within the Subika deposit and adjacent Apensu Deeps deposit.”
AFRICAN UNDERGROUND MINING SERVICES +223 20 214 242 enquiries@aumsgh.com www.aumsgh.com
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Issue No.63
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TRANSNET PORT TERMINALS
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ENTERPRISE AFRICA
OCTOBER 2017