Tanzania
Geita
Key statistics
| Geita | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay limit | (oz/t) | 0.07 | 0.09 | 0.10 |
| (g/t) | 2.38 | 3.08 | 3.10 | |
| Recovered grade* | (oz/t) | 0.069 | 0.055 | 0.056 |
| (g/t) | 2.36 | 1.89 | 1.92 | |
| Gold production | (000oz) | 357 | 272 | 264 |
| Total cash costs | ($/oz) | 777 | 954 | 728 |
| Total production costs | ($/oz) | 981 | 1,121 | 929 |
| Capital expenditure | ($m) | 38 | 19 | 53 |
| Total number of employees | 3,265 | 3,186 | 3,116 | |
| Employees | 1,874 | 1,990 | 2,130 | |
| Contractors | 1,391 | 1,196 | 986 | |
| All injury frequency rate | (per million hours worked) | 5.38 | 5.56 | 8.52 |
* Open-pit operation
| Outlook for 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production | (000oz) | 485 – 506 | ||
| Total cash costs | ($/oz) | 631 – 655 | ||
| Capital expenditure | ($m) | 66 |
Gold production
(000oz)
Capital expenditure
($m)
Total cash cost
($/oz)
Total number of employees*
Description
The Geita gold mine is located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region of Tanzania, about 120km from Mwanza and 4km west of the town of Geita. The mine is wholly owned and managed by AngloGold Ashanti.
The Geita gold deposit is an Archaean mesothermal orebody, largely hosted in a banded ironstone formation. It is a multiple open pit operation with underground potential and is currently serviced by a 5.2Mt per annum CIL processing plant.
Operating performance
The turnaround at Geita resulted in gold production increasing by 31% to 357,000oz in 2010. Significant quarterly improvements were achieved during the first half of the year, with gold production rising from 84,000oz in the first quarter to 90,000oz in the second quarter. Output was hampered during the third quarter as a result of a major planned plant shutdown to replace the SAG mill discharge end-plate and to rebuild the crusher dump-pocket. Production was also supported by improved grades from Nyankanga pit, which delivered an average grade of 3g/t.
Total cash cost for the year improved by 19% to $777/oz, mainly as a result of lower reagent costs, as well as a reduction in general and engineering stores. The favourable movement in costs was partially offset by the deferred stripping charge.
In addition, other initiatives included the start, in 2010, of the construction of a re-designed run-of-mine pad to improve the ore-blending capability of the plant. All planned performance parameters were achieved.
The fleet rationalisation strategy also saw the number of trucks used during the year reduce from 48 to 34. This, in conjunction with improved operating practices, resulted in significant productivity gains as the same volume of material was moved with fewer haul trucks. Fleet rationalisation will continue through 2011 as truck productivity is expected to improve by an additional 10% to 20%, as a result of the new larger, lightweight trays.
Geita’s turnaround and the implementation of Project ONE initiatives which include the BPF and SP, continued throughout 2010. The work management aspect of BPF was successfully implemented in the mining maintenance and processing divisions, resulting in continued improvements. Under the SP component, the Geita organisational structure was re-designed. Managerial Leadership Practices (MLP) training is being delivered to senior management and is due to be completed by 2011.
Capital expenditure for 2010 totalled $38m and was spent on stay-in-business projects $35m and exploration activities $3m.
Growth prospects
Exploration drilling was undertaken to increase confidence in the Nyankanga Cut 9 volumes, Cut 6 volumes behind the 2007 failure zone, and in the near-surface volume of Block 1 in the Nyankanga underground. Results confirmed current mineralisation and the Nyankanga Mineral Resource model will be updated to incorporate additional drilling and mapping data in 2011.
Both the Nyankanga and Geita Hill Mineral Resource models were updated in April 2010. The Geita Hill Mineral Resource decreased by 2% and the Nyankanga Mineral Resource by 1%. Both reductions resulted from decreased mineralised volumes.
Exploration activities outside of the active mining areas comprised IP-surveying and geological mapping of five targets: Nyakabale, Mgusu, Nyankumbu, Kukuluma A and Kukuluma B. Except for Kukuluma B, all targets revealed promising combined chargeability and resistivity signatures indicative of disseminated sulphides and potentially associated with gold mineralisation. Drill testing of these anomalies is ongoing.
Outlook for 2011
Gold production for 2011 is forecast to increase to between 485,000oz and 506,000oz at a total cash cost ranging from $631/oz to $655/oz.
Capital expenditure of $66m is planned and will be spent on ensuring the integrity of the process plant and on further rationalisation of the mining fleet. This figure includes drilling expenditure of $2m, project capital of approximately $30m and stay-in-business capital of some $34m.
Sustainability issues
Safety
Geita achieved 11.5 million hours free of lost-time injuries before two tragic fatalities in May 2010, resulting from a collision between two trucks on one of the haul roads during the night shift. The all injury frequency rate for 2010 was 5.38 per million hours worked (2009: 5.56).
Fatigue continues to pose a major threat to Geita’s safety record, making it a priority for safety management. The safety management programme in 2010 included the completion of a hazard identification and reporting course, plan task observation training to all frontline managers and rescue team refresher courses.
Geita was second runner-up in the country OHSAS competition.
Community
Resolution of land compensation claims progressed well during the year, with the completion of the Nyamatagata and Katoma claims. Phase 5 of Nyankumbu Girls Secondary School started in 2010 and construction of the school will be completed in 2011.
Design work was completed on the Geita Town Water Supply Project, which will be built in 2011. This project, which will draw water from the Nyankanga dam on the mine’s lease area, will include transfer pumping, a treatment and storage system and will deliver water at a rate of 4,800 cubic metres per day to the town.
Environment
One reportable environmental incident took place in 2010, following the death of two birds.
Cyanide management has been enhanced with the completion of the plant tailings dilution circuit. Improved control may be expected once the second oxygen injection system on the conditioning tanks is satisfactorily commissioned at the beginning of 2011.
The key requirements of the cyanide code have now been met and the main remaining objective is to achieve compliance with the code requirement that weak acid dissociable (WAD) cyanide levels in the tailings slurry should not exceed 50 parts per million for a period of three to six months. This will be the objective for the first two quarters of 2011.
ISO 14001 environment certification was maintained during the year.