Resource World Magazine

a p r i l / m a y 2 0 1 5 www.resourceworld.com 45 MINING Goldsource Mines beGins eaGle Mountain Mill construction Goldsource Mines Inc. [GXS-TSXV; G5M- FSE] has commenced construction at its Eagle Mountain gold project in Guyana, South America. Phase I development con- sists of a 1,000-tpd, open-pit gravity plant for an eight-year mine life with estimated preproduction capital costs of US $5.9-mil- lion and expected cash operating costs of US $480/oz of gold. Based on a preliminary economic assessment technical report pre- pared for the company, dated September 12, 2014, with an effective date of June 15, 2014, and filed on SEDAR, sustaining capital and future expansions are intended to be paid for through operating cash flow. Yannis Tsitos, President and direc- tor, stated: "The phase I development at Eagle Mountain is fully financed, the mine area is fully permitted for operations, and mine site preparation and processing plant construction has begun. The com- mencement of construction activities at Eagle Mountain is a huge milestone for the company, and we are very excited at the prospect of Goldsource becoming a low- cost gold producer in 2015." Eric Fier, CEO, stated, "Our develop- ment plan for phase I has started. We are excited about getting boots on the ground for construction, as we expect to execute this work on time and on budget. With success of phase I, we will look at several opportunities to optimize the mine for the benefit of our shareholders." Currently the significant development activities are as follows: • Purchase of a 100-tonne-per-hour pro- cessing plant from Sepro Mineral Systems Corp., Langley, Vancouver, BC (deposits completed) • Detailed engineering and final design of Sepro processing plant (near completion); Construction of Sepro processing plant in Vancouver (first-quarter to third-quarter 2015) • Rehabilitation of the existing 10-km road between Mahdia town (main inte- rior highway and commercial airport) and Eagle Mountain gold (under way) • Procurement of longer-lead mining equipment (under way) • Preproduction drilling program for con- firmation and condemnation (under way) • Camp facility rehabilitation and upgrades (under way) • Recruitment of key operations person- nel (under way) • Site preparation of plant and initial min- ing area (second-quarter 2015) b2Gold achieves coMMercial Gold production at otjikoto Mine B2Gold Corp. [BTO-TSX; BTG-NYSE MKT; Namibia] reports its new Otjikoto gold mine in Namibia achieved commer- cial production, ahead of schedule on February 28, 2015. The ramp up of pro- duction continues well ahead of budget. The open pit Otjikoto gold mine poured first gold on December 11, 2014, one week ahead of schedule. In January 2015, the project continued its strong ramp-up to commercial production ahead of schedule and produced 8,587 ounces against a bud- get of 8,267 ounces. Better than budgeted performance was attributed to additional mill availability (89.6% versus budget of 70%) and better than anticipated through- put (34% above budget). February 2015 also saw gold production ahead of budget (10,228 ounces produced versus 8,863 ounces budgeted). This was a product of better grade than January at 1.57 g/t (versus bud- get of 1.71 g/t), better mill recoveries at 97.82% (versus budget of 96.17%), and better mill availability at 91.7% for the month (versus budget of 82%). Based on the performance of the mill, and the fact that the company met commercial produc- tion criteria of 30 consecutive days of mill throughput of 65% of faceplate capac- ity by February 28, 2015, the Otjikoto gold project is declaring commercial pro- duction as of that date. Operating cash costs for the month of January were US $612/oz versus a budget of US $705/oz. For 2015, Otjikoto is expected to produce between 140,000 to 150,000 ounces of gold at a cash operating cost of approximately $500-$525/oz and all in sustaining costs of approximately $700/oz. The company expects annual gold production to increase to approximately 200,000 ounces in 2016 and 2017. Expansion of the Otjikoto mill from 2.5 million tonnes/year to 3.0 million tonnes/ year continues on schedule with the instal- lation of the first additional leach tank to be completed during Q1 2015. Major additional work that must be completed includes installation of a second leach tank, construction of a pebble crusher and associated piping and pumping compo- nents. It is anticipated that this work will be completed by August 31, 2015. This will support additional throughput initially from the Otjikoto Mine and subse- quently from the fully permitted Wolfshag deposit that is located immediately adjacent to the main, Otjikoto deposit. The project had no lost time accidents for the months of January and February 2015. The B2Gold construction team has commenced road and site construction preparation at the company's next planned mine, the recently acquired Fekola Project in Mali. The company will release the results of the feasibility study at Fekola in June 2015. Based on current assump- tions, the Fekola Mine has the potential to produce approximately 300,000 ounces of gold/year commencing in early 2018. n

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