By Osoro Nyawangah, TARIME
Tanzania
With its North Mara and
Bulyanhulu gold mines in Tanzania set to achieve a combined production in
excess of 500,000 ounces for the second year running, Barrick Gold
Corporation is looking to expand its East African footprint from this base.Courtesy
Headquartered in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada the gold mining giants has mining operations in Argentina,
Canada, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican
Republic, Mali, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, the United States and
Zambia.
In Tanzania, the company
operates North Mara gold mine in Tarime district, Mara region and Bulyanhulu
mine in Kahama district, Shinyanga region.
Speaking to media at a
briefing at a local school near the North Mara mine, president and chief
executive, Mark Bristow, said the resurrection of these moribund mines and
their transformation into an asset with the potential to be included in
Barrick’s elite ‘Tier One’ portfolio as a combined complex was a
remarkable success story.
“Our ground-breaking Twiga
partnership with the Tanzanian government not only settled its long-running
disputes with the mines’ previous operators but has established a model for
mutually beneficial cooperation between miners and their host countries,
particularly in Africa.” He said adding that by demonstrating that, Tanzania is
an investor-friendly destination it also augurs well for the future of the
country’s mining industry.
Both North
Mara and Bulyanhulu mines have been ramping up production, with North Mara
hitting a record 505,000 tonnes of ore and waste mined last quarter.
It continues to optimize the
underground operation while the change to an owner-mining strategy has boosted
the expansion of both the mine and open pit operations.
At Bulyanhulu, the development
of the main declines to access the Deep West zone of the orebody started last
quarter. The production ramp-up at both mines is being supported by fleet
upgrades.
“We continue to target further
growth through reconnaissance and the consolidation of key licences.
Extension opportunities are being assessed along the Gokona strike and
throughout the Bulyanhulu Inlier.” Bristow said.
He further noted that results
from the deep drilling at Gokona are pointing to a significant potential for
extending North Mara’s life.
“In addition to the brown fields’
exploration designed to maintain the positive trend on resource expansion and
conversion at the two mines, we are also looking further afield. A better
understanding of the region’s geological architecture will improve our ability
to discover new world-class development opportunities in our areas of
interest.”
In line with Barrick’s localization policy, Tanzanians make up 96% of mines’
workforces, with 45% drawn from the communities surrounding the mines.
The host country nationals
account for 58% of the senior management.
During the past quarter the
mines spent $339 million with Tanzanian suppliers and service providers.
Since it took over the mines
in 2019, Barrick has contributed over $2.1 billion to the Tanzanian economy. -
Africa
No comments:
Post a Comment