The Essakane gold mine in Burkina Faso has been started up by IamGold Corp. six months prior to the planned date of year end 2010. It is the first greenfield project built by IamGold in Africa.
Peter C.Jones, the interim president and CEO said that the fact that the project has been completed ahead of schedule and in line with the capital budget is a testament to the excellent project development team.
The Essakane Project is located in north-eastern Burkina Faso, West Africa. It straddles the boundary of the Oudalan and Seno provinces in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso and is approximately 330 km northeast of the capital, Ouagadougou. It is situated 42 km east of the nearest large town and the provincial capital of Oudalan, Gorom-Gorom.
The Essakane gold mine is expected to yield 315,000 oz of gold per year. It is designed as an open pit, carbon in leach producer. The estimated life of the mine is 15 years. The cash cost of extracting the gold is likely to be US $ 400-410 per ounce.
Mr. Jones called it the second flagship mine for IamGold. He considers the long life and low cost operations a great addition to the project development capabilities of the company’s portfolio.
The government of Burkina Faso has a 10% interest in the Essakane gold mine.