TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Triple-listed B2Gold on Monday revealed that a tailings-line leak that took place earlier this month at the Masbate mine, in the Philippines, had resulted in operations being suspended while the steel pipe was replaced, with production being restarted on Saturday.

B2Gold, which acquired the 200 000 oz/y mine in its blockbuster C$1.1-billion takeover of CGA Mining at the start of the year, said it had suspended processing after observing minor leaks in the process plant tailings line. Subsequent wear measurement had resulted in the decision to replace the steel line, which was now complete.

Before the suspension, mine production totalled 1 800 oz more than company forecasts for the second quarter but, as a result of the suspension of operations, production for the period was expected to be about 7 000 oz less than expected.

However, B2Gold said the production loss would be offset with a modification of the mining sequence centred on the Colorado pit. The modification had been in development before the incident and would result in the production guidance of between 175 000 oz and 185 000 oz of gold for the year being unaffected.

The tailings-line discharge was minimal, estimated to be less than 100 m³ of slurry, and the leakage was contained within an emergency pond and ditch next to the line. The emergency pond was specifically designed to contain tailings material in the event of a pipe rupture.

Repairs to this section of pipe were immediately undertaken and cleanup activities were started.

B2Gold said extensive environmental monitoring of all potential areas of impact from these incidents was conducted during and after the incident, with no impacts detected. Ongoing monitoring would continue as the plant is restarted to confirm no additional impacts from the incident.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, including the offices of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and the Environmental Management Bureau were informed of the incident, with both offices subsequently visiting the operation.

No significant variation to works already completed or scheduled by the operation were required and officials and nearby residents of the adjacent Barangay were also notified of the incident and made aware of all remedial actions that were being taken.

Investigations into the cause of the leaks, including ultrasonic testing, indicated premature internal wear of the tailings pipeline. Therefore, to eliminate the potential for the reoccurence of similar events, the entire tailings pipeline was replaced.

The company’s TSX-listed shares shed 5.75% of its value on Monday to close at C$2.13 apiece, having lost 40.05% of its value since the start of the year.