The Obotan Gold Project consists of four separate gold deposits in Northwest Ghana and located within the northern 15km of the Asankrangwa Gold Belt.
The project has a 2012 JORC/NI 43-101 resource of 4.51 Moz and a proposed mining operation of 11 years, processing at a rate of 3 Mtpa.
orelogy’s involvement in the Obotan DFS started with a Due Diligence review of the PFS in September 2011.
The role grew in December 2011 to that of Project Management of the DFS, including the Mining Engineering component, with the view to delivering a NI 43-101 Technical report.
The DFS provided the foundation for investment and ongoing work post DFS included:
- Mining construction, tender preparation, review & recommendations.
- Detailed implementation planning & budgeting for the first 2 years of operation.
The Challenge
- Meeting a tight project time-line.
- Meeting low pre-strip expectations.
- Concurrently schedule 4 deposits in a 10 km radius.
- 13 year mine life.
- Lease constraints.
The Scope
- Feasibility study development and completion.
- Stage 1: Project management of multi-disciplinary team:
– Geology
– Geotech
– Environmental (including government liaison)
– Advance approval process
– Geohydrology
– Process (Tailing dam design)
- Stage 2: Mining Study:
– Optimisation
– Pit Design
– Scheduling using Open-pit scheduling software
– Costing
- Develop mining contract RFI followed by bid evaluation and contractor recommendation.
Business Benefits
Owner/shareholder: Avoiding delays of any significance and add value to project by developing optimised practical schedules.
Mining Engineer: Provide practical mine plans that can be further developed during the implementation program. Efficiently evaluated over 80 different schedules.
Process engineers/metallurgists: Mill feed schedule that meets processing requirements in terms of material blend and headgrade.
orelogy quote
“Effective communication and leadership amongst different disciplines is the driver of successful project outcomes.
orelogy was able to harness the reins and ensure all facets of the DFS study team were informed and knowledgeable about the entire mine planning process, alleviating communication breakdowns to deliver a timely Technical Report”
Carel Moormann
Principal Mining Consultant
orelogy
PMI Gold Website – www.pmigoldcorp.com
