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and since the downturn began we confirmed initial resources at five Greenfield projects. Boto in Senegal now has reserves and we are completing a feasibility study so this is potentially a new development project.”
An incredible asset
Such global experiences and heightened awareness of industry curves have been pivotal in driving IAMGOLD’s success in Africa, where trends can often be exacerbated; especially as an international entity looking to prove itself as a trustworthy and responsible entrant to a prospective country. This is where the business’s early ingratiation into the continent via the Sadiola open pit operation in Mali has been critical; paving the way for the later Essakane triumph. As Sadiola winds down with a view to being put into suspension in 2019, the latter Burkina Faso operation is fast becoming
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Essakane has been a very successful acquisition for IAMGOLD, which incepted with the acquisition in 2009 and was ramped-up from a production perspective in 2013 when we found a higher percentage of hard rock under the surface, and therefore an extension in terms of the life of the mine
IAMGOLD’s flagship African asset. Ninety percent owned by the Company (the Government of Burkina Faso owning the final 10 percent), Essakane represents a more than 1,200 square kilometre land mass with exponential potential for further regional prospects. Acquired in 2009 and entering production in 2010, further mill expansions since then have made it the largest gold mine in the country, and this is just the start. “Essakane has been a very successful acquisition for IAMGOLD, which incepted with the acquisition in 2009 and was ramped-up from a production perspective in 2013 when we found a higher percentage of hard rock under the surface, and therefore an extension in terms of the life of the mine,” states Essakane’s General Manager, Bruno Lemelin. “With this realisation, we also needed to increase the capacity of the mill in order to produce the forecast production levels of around 400,000 gold ounces per annum.