AMN - TANZANIA: Buckreef oxide project takes shape

After more than doubling the estimated gold resource in the measured and indicated categories for Buckreef Shear Zone at Buckreef project in Tanzania to 2.3 million contained ounces, Tanzanian Gold Corp continues drilling in the Phase III ultra-deep program. The company is also well-placed to complete its oxide ore project.

On April 6, 2020, the first bucket was excavated from the Buckreef open pit, signalling the beginning of mining for ores to be processed by the new oxide Plant.

Initially, topsoil will be removed from the oxide open pit and stored on a sperate topsoil pad. Following removal of the topsoil, oxide ore will be placed in several stockpiles on a separate run-of-Mine pad for blending as feed to the Oxide Plant.

The company’s contractor plans to initiate cold commissioning of the Oxide Plant before the end of the month. In a cold commissioning test, all the parts of the plant will run but there will not be any ore processed.

The company’s advisor, SGS Canada Inc, has also completed a geotechnical assessment of the Buckreef deposit at depths below the proposed open pit. The report provides recommendations to guide stope, underground infrastructure and crown pillar designs.

Key recommendations are:

• A crown pillar with a minimum thickness of 15 metres between the open pit and underground workings;
• Unsupported long hole longitudinal stopes have been assessed for widths of 7.5, 10, and 12.5 metres for both single and double, 25-metre sub-level intervals heights, using Q’ median values. These conceptual or Level 1 underground stope designs will now be advanced to the next level of mine design as the basis for a possible underground operation below the planned Buckreef open pit. This open pit is the basis for the June 26, 2018, 43-101 pre-feasibility report.
• Metallurgical testing of primary ore. SGS Canada has started testing several large samples at its Lakefield, Ontario, Canada facilities. These samples were collected from holes recently drilled in the area of the pre-feasibility study open pit to collect critical flowsheet and design information for a large plant that will process the primary ore that lies below the oxide ore being mined. This large plant will be the basis for the company’s final feasibility 43-101 report.

Executive chairman James Sinclair said: “Following the announcement of a doubling of our highest quality resources we are now well placed to complete our oxide ore project and then proceed to final feasibility study.

“We still have several drills on the property as our testing of the ultra-deep potential and the possible extension of the Buckreef Shear Zone continues.”

www.tangoldcorp.com