TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian project developer True Gold Mining, which is building the $131.5-million Karma gold project, in Burkina Faso, has ramped up construction at the mine and is on schedule for first gold pour by March 2016.
The West Africa-focused company restarted construction in May after temporarily suspending construction activities at Karma in January, after several hundred members from two surrounding communities marched on the mine, threatened employees and damaged equipment.
True Gold reported on Wednesday that it, the Burkina Faso government and representatives of the community of Ramatoulaye recently struck an accord in support of the mine. The tripartite agreement was expected to assure that the mine operation proceeded within a peaceful climate and benefited all stakeholders.
The parties committed to ensuring the security of properties, people and ongoing dialogue supporting the construction of the mine.
Having resumed full construction on June 1, the company currently had more than 250 staff on site, who were excavating the storm and raw water ponds as well as undertaking site preparation for the heap-leach pad.
True Gold said the project remained fully funded, requiring about $70-million more in capital investments until the start of first production. The company currently had about $29-million cash in the bank, with $63-million available under the Franco-Nevada/Sandstorm Gold joint financing agreement.