LGL’s 90% owned Bonikro operation is located in the central-southern portion of the West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire, approximately 240 kilometres north-west of the nation’s commercial capital Abidjan. The nearest regional town is Hiré, which is approximately 9 kilometres from the project.

 Côte d'Ivoire Fact Sheet - English (2.6 MB)
 Côte d'Ivoire Fact Sheet - French (2.6 MB)
 Bonikro Fact Sheet (233 KB)

History

LGL acquired the Bonikro gold project in June 2008, through a merger with Equigold NL. Equigold had secured the Oumé project area in 1996. Gold mineralisation at Bonikro was discovered shortly after following geochemical soil sampling over the Oumé area. The gold-in-soil anomaly was subsequently drilled, culminating in resource estimation and pit optimisation studies.

In July 2006, Equigold announced the completion of a bankable feasibility study at Bonikro. Final Board approval for the development of the project was granted in May 2007 and construction of the mine began that month. Commercial production commenced in August 2008.

Ownership

LGL holds 85% of the shares in Equigold Mines CI SA which in turn holds a 100% interest in the Bonikro gold project. The Côte d'Ivoire Government holds a 10% interest in Equigold Mines CI SA, with the remaining 5% held by minority shareholders.

Geology

The Bonikro deposit is hosted primarily within a small granodiroite intrusion.  Mineralisation extends into surrounding basalts to the south, and is controlled along a moderately dipping shear zone.  Gold occurs associated with quartz and pyrite, with the highest gold grades occurring around the intersection of the shear and the granodiorite.  Overall, the deposit has an average grade below 2g/t gold.

Mining

Bonikro employs a conventional open pit mining method comprising drill, blast, load and haul.  The operation is expected to produce approximately 2.75Mtpa (oxide ore) or 2.0Mtpa (fresh ore) extracted from one main pit. A total of 80% of the mill feed is categorised as fresh, with the bulk of the oxide scheduled to be mined in the early stages.

The project will be owner operated with the exception of the drill and blast function, which has been contracted to a third party.

Processing

The predominant method of gold recovery is via carbon in leach (CIL) technology, with some gold recovered via a gravity circuit.

Production

Bonikro began commercial gold production in August 2008. For the first full year, production is expected to be between 130,000 and 160,000 ounces. Subsequent average annual gold production is expected to be approximately 120,000 ounces.