13 May 2013

Galane Gold, a Canadian TSX Venture exchange listed company and gold producer and explorer, is on the verge of going underground in its operations at Mupane Gold Mining.

Feasibility studies are anticipated to yield positive results as they indicate high grade shoots with significant gold deposits. Drilling has unearthed significant gold deposit and the company is optimistic of continuing to exploit the deposits via underground mining.

While operating costs are higher in underground mining, there are other advantages associated with the deposits, including higher grade gold than available through open pit mining.

Mupane Gold general manager, Mr Lawrence Manjengwa said in an interview recently that Galane Gold took over Mupane Gold Mining and Shashe operations from IAMGOLD in August 2011.

Gallery Gold, an Australian company commissioned the Mupane operations in 2004 but sold the operations to IAMGOLD in 2007.

Mupane Gold Mining operations, he said, have been producing an average of 50 000 ounces of gold per year since commissioning. Galane Gold has continued with the same level of productivity and has commissioned Shashe operations to supplement the depleting resources at Mupane.

Mr Manjengwa said Galane Gold also successfully acquired Northern Lights Exploration (NLE) in 2012.

He noted that NLE owns most of the gold prospecting ground in the Tati Greenstone Belt, which hosts both Mupane and Shashe operations.

He said the acquisition of NLE provided Galane Gold with an opportunity to further explore for more gold resources in Botswana.

He said the company has continued to invest in exploration projects within the Tati Greenstone Belt with the objective of continuously increasing its resource base.

  Mr Manjengwa said they are conducting bankable feasibility studies to determine the viability of underground mining. He said they realised that with depth came high grade ore bodies, especially at the Tholo pit. He said the ore bodies would be studied in the context of the economic viability of underground mining.

“Currently, there is a measured and indicated resource which encourages us to go underground. How much resource they are out there would be determined by the geo-technical feasibility studies which we hope to conclude soon,” said Mr Manjengwa.

The general manager said their open pit mining method was faced with challenges as they no longer have oxide which is easier to mine, adding that they were now mining the hard surface. The results of the feasibility study, said Mr Manjengwa, would guide their way forward.

He noted that the mine’s life span was anticipated to go up to 2016, but noted that exploration was ongoing along the Tati Greenstone Belt which is part of a prolific area of gold production that has produced over 77 million ounces of gold.

The belt has been mined for nearly 1 000 years by the region’s indigenous inhabitants. On the issue of recent retrenchments at Mupane Gold Mine, Mr Manjengwa explained that when they took over from IAMGOLD, they looked at opportunities to improve the running costs and to achieve operational efficiency.

“We took over a company which was not doing well but had to achieve our objectives as such one of the opportunities identified led to retrenchments,” he said. Furthermore, he said Galane Gold felt that outsourcing or streamlining was a good strategy to make operations profitable.

He also indicated that at the time, they wanted to purchase equipment and undertake some maintenance hence it made sense to outsource mining operations. At  present, the general manager highlighted that they have contracted 100 per cent of the mining works to private companies and were efficiently managing them. ENDS