The wholly owned subsidiary of Barrick Gold, African Barrick Gold (ABG), has announced that its board approved the next level of optimisation for the Bulyanhulu mine, through the acceleration of mining of the upper east zone.
Bulyanhulu gold mine is situated 55km south of Lake Victoria in the district of Kahama, in the Shinyanga region of the United Republic of Tanzania.
Following the approval, the mining company will incur approximately $15m, with initial production from the zone expected within three months.
According to the company, the area is expected to produce 1.7m ounces of gold, averaging at 60,000oz per annum over a mine life of more than 25 years, at all-in sustaining costs that are below the target run rate of $900 per ounce for year end in 2015.
African Barrick Gold CEO Brad Gordon said the key aim for this year is to demonstrate the potential that exists at Bulyanhulu and to ensure that the production base is more representative of the scale of the reserve base.
"We are in the process of commissioning the CIL Expansion at the mine, which together with the acceleration of the upper east zone and the mined grade improvement provides a clear path to increasing annualised production levels at Bulyanhulu to over 350,000oz per annum by the end of 2015."
In March 2010, operations at the mine were temporarily suspended due to a rock fall incident which caused three deaths.
Image: Bulyanhulu gold mine is situated 55km south of Lake Victoria in the district of Kahama. Photo: courtesy of African Barrick Gold.
.gif)
