Cluff Gold Commissions Second West African Mine

Cluff Gold Commissions Second West African Mine

Cluff Gold expects the Kalsaka gold project in Burkina Faso to ramp up to 60,000 oz/y by year’s end.

Cluff Gold began commissioning the open-pit, heap-leach Kalsaka gold project in Burkina Faso in late August 2008 and expects to have it ramped up to design production capacity of 60,000 oz/y of gold by year-end. Kalsaka is Cluff’s second mine to come into production in West Africa this year. Its 40,000-oz/y Angovia gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire poured its first gold on March 14. The two projects are expected to produce a combined total of 100,000 oz in 2009.

The Kalsaka project is based on oxide gold mineral reserves and resources and is located 150 km northwest of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The project’s JORC-compliant reserves total 323,000 oz of gold at a gold price of $525/oz, while its JORCcompliant resources total 790,000 oz.

Cluff Gold is headquartered in London and listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company is 78% owner and operator of the Kalsaka project, the remainder being held 12% by IMAR-B, its local partner, and 10% by the government of Burkina Faso.

Cluff’s Angovia mine in Côte d’Ivoire is also an open-pit, heap-leach operation. Its JORC-compliant mineral resources stand at 496,000 oz of gold. The mine is located 40 km northwest of Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Côte d’Ivoire and represents renewed production from a mine that produced about 180,000 oz of gold from 1998 to 2003. Infrastructure in the mine area is good, with a hydroelectric dam located 6 km from the mine site.

As featured in Womp 08 Vol 8 - www.womp-int.com