Name and Location
Banfora gold project, Burkina Faso.

Client
Gryphon Minerals.

Project Description
Banfora has an ore reserve estimate of 17.4-million tonnes at 1.5 g/t of gold for 826 000 oz of contained gold.

The completed feasibility study (FS) on the Banfora project has demonstrated robust project economics for a conventional two-million-tonne-a-year heap-leach startup operation. The project will be mined by a mining contractor using conventional openpit methods.

Ore will be trucked from the three satellite deposits – Samavogo, Fourkoura and Stinger – to the processing plant at the Nogbele deposit. Gryphon will undertake a competitive tender process for the mining contract as part of the early project implementation works, with the aim to award a contract before the end of the first quarter in 2015.

The majority of the mineable heap-leach ores at Banfora are shallow and within a 50 m depth from the surface, with major exceptions being the Nogbele North and Samavogo main pits, which are just under 100 m.

Conventional openpit mining techniques using free dig, plus drill and blast, with material movement by hydraulic excavator and trucks, will be employed. The project scale suits 120 t class excavators in a backhoe configuration, matched to 90 t class mine haul trucks, and 5 m bench heights.

The Fourkoura, Stinger and Samavogo pits are 6 km, 15 km and 25 km respectively from the process plant. Conventional on-road trucks will be used to move ore mined from these pits to the run-of-mine stockpile.The process design is based on proven, conventional heap-leach technology that can be up-scaled at a later date.

The plant design proposes a two-stage crushing circuit initially, which includes a primary jaw crusher and a secondary cone crusher. After crushing, the ore is agglomerated with the addition of cement, then discharged onto the conveyor system and stacked onto the heap-leach pad. The leach pad area includes full plastic lining, conveyor stacking in 8 m lifts and drip irrigation with dilute cyanide solution.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project’s net present value at a 5% discount is estimated at $81-million and its internal rate of return after tax is 22% at the $1 250/oz base case gold price.

Value
Capital costs are estimated at $96.8-million and then include contingencies and project working capital.

Duration
Subject to full funding and final board approvals, the project development timeline expects first gold pour in the first quarter of 2016.

Latest Developments
Subject to final board approvals, the company plans to take advantage of the upcoming dry season to start site establishment early works, which will include road upgrades, construction-camp preparation work, detail design and warehouse storage and temporary facilities at the project.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Kappes Cassiday & Associates Australia (heap-leach FS testwork programme and defining the process flow sheets); SGS Lakefield (heap-leach testwork); Lycopodium Minerals (overall coordination of the study, feasibility engineering and estimated capital and operating costs); Cube Consulting (mine planning and mine designs); Knights Piésold (site geotechnical engineering for heap-leach pads and foundations, water balance and access roads); Gryphon Minerals Intersocial Consulting and Experiens (environmental and social studies).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Gryphon Minerals, tel +61 8 9287 4333, fax +61 8 9287 4334 or email admin@gryphonminerals.com.au.
Kappes Cassiday & Associates Australia, tel +61 8 9240 8400.
SGS Lakefield, tel +226 50 31 50 42/43 or fax +226 50 31 50 41.
Lycopodium Minerals, tel +61 8 6210 5222 or fax +61 8 6210 5201.
Cube Consulting, tel +61 8 9442 2111 or fax +61 8 9442 2110.
Knights Piésold, tel +233 30 702 11 55.
Intersocial Consulting, email info@intersocialconsulting.com.