Could you provide some background information on Roxgold and its asset in Burkina Faso?

Roxgold is a Canadian-based gold mining company and its flagship asset is the Yaramoko mine located approximately 200 km southwest of Ouagadougou. The mine has been in production since May 2016, and was a greenfield discovery by Roxgold in 2011, so the transition from discovery to production was in record time. The capital investment to put the mine together was US$106 million.

What were the challenges in transitioning from an exploration to a mining company?

Financing was a bit tough but the timing was good as we built the project in a downturn, meaning we had access to some very good people, many of whom we had worked with before. Paul Criddle, our COO, and I had already worked together in developing the Sabodala gold project in Senegal in the mid-2000s, and Paul has developed two other projects in Africa. Therefore, we had a good contact list of experts we could draw upon.

What are the highlights of Yaramoko and its recent performance and prospects for 2018?  

The project has performed extremely well. Grades have been very good; we processed an average head grade of 15.3 g/t gold over the course of 2017. Production has also been very strong and in 2017 we produced 127,000 oz gold, significantly above our initial guidance of between 105,000 and 115,000 oz. Our cash operating cost was US$438 per oz, which is extremely low. We have made a significant repayment on our debt, paying nearly US$30 million of our project finance, and built up to US$63 million of cash in the bank at the end of 2017. From having US$75 million of debt in May of 2016, we are now net cash positive.

Yaramoko is one of the highest-grade gold mines in the world, with measured and indicated grades of over 17 g/t and, so far, we have been delivering over 15g/t. About 70% of the gold is recovered in our gravity circuit and the balance comes out in our leaching circuit. It is a very clean metallurgical system with low sulfides and nothing refractory about it with high overall recoveries of 99%. Ground conditions have also been good.

What is Yaramoko’s mine life and the exploration potential of Roxgold’s land package?

It is a ten-year mine life and the deposit is still open at depth. We had much success last year drilling the deeper portions of the principal deposit (the 55 zone). Currently we are mining vertically about 200 meters below surface but the ore body is continuously high grade at least to 1,100 meters. Therefore, the mine has potential to go much beyond a 10-year mine life. We are currently expanding the project with a second underground mine, Bagassi South, located 1.8 km from the 55 zone and the processing facility. We broke ground in February 2018, and anticipate having it in production in Q4 2018, with approximately 40,000 oz/y. This will take us to 160,000 oz in 2019 for the entire Yaramoko project.

We have a US$9 million exploration budget in 2018 which involves 63,000 meters of drilling. This year we are changing from primarily infill drilling at known deposits to focus on new discoveries. Currently we have three drill rigs and 230 square km on the Houndé belt, and are looking at multiple targets like the 55 Zone and Bagassi South as well as more traditional open pit mines. We have spent the last two years stocking our exploration pyramid and this is the year we test it aggressively.

How do you manage safety in the operation?

Safety is our key focus and we focus on it not just for its own sake but to drive quality in the project. Our goal is zero fatalities and life-altering injuries and to keep the loss-time injury rate as low as possible. We have been having a lot of success, generating over 4 million hours worked with no loss time injuries. We operate in a risky environment but to very high standards, as do our contractors. All the training tools are in French, as well as local dialects, to assist new workers.

What is the attractiveness of Burkina Faso for mining investment?

Burkina is attractive based on its geological potential and mining-friendly environment. It is underexplored but is clearly fertile given recent discoveries such as B2Gold’s, West African Resources’ and Roxgold’s. The government wants foreign investment, as do local communities. The fact that we went from discovery to production in five years shows just that.