Name and Location
Karma gold project, Burkina Faso.

Client
True Gold.

Project Description
An October 2012 Canadian National Instrument 43-101-compliant mineral resource update estimated that the Karma project to host a total pit shell-constrained resource of 56.5-million tonnes grading 1g/t gold, for 1.94-million ounces, while the inferred resource comprised 15.3-million tonnes grading 1.07 g/t gold for 492-million ounces.

The project consists of five closely spaced deposits – Kao, Goulagou I, Goulagou II, Rambo and Nami – which remain open in multiple directions.

The preliminary economic assessment (PEA) completed on the project examined the integrated development of the five deposits under three operating scenarios:
• heap-leach processing of all nonrefractory resources;
• carbon-in-leach (CIL) processing of all nonrefractory resources; and
• heap-leach processing of all nonrefractory resources and flotation processing of a small portion of high-grade refractory resources.

The PEA contemplates that mining will be conducted using a fleet of seven to ten 91 t trucks and two 15 m3 excavators in backhoe configuration working 5-m-high benches. Mining rates, depending on the operating scenario, range from 30 000 t/d to 40 000 t/d, with strip ratios of 2.5 to 3.2:1. Most of the oxide and transition material are free-digging, with drilling and blasting required for the transition and sulphide rocks.

Heap leach and CIL were deemed suitable for processing the nonrefractory material. A processing rate of 9 000 t/d, or three-million tonnes a year, was identified as the best compromise between plant cost and throughput to generate production in each scenario of 70 000 oz/y to 90 000 oz/y of gold over a nominal ten-year mine life.

In the third operating scenario, flotation of refractory mineralisation was applied to a small (2.2-million tonnes), higher-grade (2.34 g/t gold) portion of the sulphide resource to generate a direct-shipping concentrate. Refractory feed processing was planned for a throughput of 1 200 t/d as an adjunct to heap leach, supplementing gold production in the latter years of the mine life when mined oxide grades decline.

Value
Initial start-up capital is estimated at $125-million, with could potentially be reduced to $96-million using contract mining.

Duration
The company plans to start production by the end of 2015.

Latest Developments
True Gold has reported that its recently completed drill programme extends gold mineralisation to an additional 2 000 m from the northern edge of the currently defined Kao deposit at its flagship Karma gold project. This extension more than doubles the size of the gold footprint at Kao, expanding mineralisation to a total strike length of 3 400 m. Mineralisation discovered on two drill fences near the northern limits of drilling, each 400 m apart, included near-surface oxide and sulphide gold. Mineralisation remains open to the north, south, and west, and down-dip to the east.

Meanwhile, the company has received an environmental permit from the Burkina Faso Environment and Sustainable Development Ministry to develop the Goulagou 1, Goulagou 2 and Rambo deposits.

The approval advances its application for an exploitation permit for the deposits, which is the final permit required.

As permitting advances, True Gold will proceed with optimising mine engineering, site preparation, evaluating and pricing longer-lead capital cost items, as well as finalising capital and operating cost estimates as part of the ongoing feasibility study.

The company has not yet made a production decision and the strategic plan to develop a standalone heap-leach operation is subject to the results of the feasibility study, which remains on schedule for release by the end of 2013.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
True Gold, tel +1 604 801 5020 or email info@truegoldmining.com