Overview
Several gold mines and projects are located in the northeast part of Guinea. Gold is becoming an important player in Guinea, with international exploration funding increasing substantially. Guinea has two main gold producers, Societe Miniere de Dinguiraye (SMD) and Societe Ashanti de Guinee (SAG). Semafo began production in 2002. SMD is 85% owned by Kenor of Norway (now Guinor Gold Corp) and 15% by the Guinea government and operate the Lero – Karta mine in northern Guinea.
Ashanti Goldfields acquired Golden Shamrock and its 85% interest in SAG in 1998. In 2004 AngloGold merged with Ashanti tofprm AngloGold Ashanti. The resource at Siguiri is estimated at 107.6 Mt, including 60.4 Mt of proven and probable reserves averaging 1.21 g/t of gold. In May 2004, the government of Guinea placed an emabrgo on gold exports from Siguiri and on the supply of diesel to the mine causing AgloGold Ashanti to shut down operations at the mine. The ban was partially lifted in June 2004 but resumption of gold sales took place in August and negotions are still underway. The mine produced 252,795 oz of gold in 2003.
A second gold mine, the Lero – Karta mine has been developed by Kenor of Norway. The mine currently produces over 100 000 oz (92,733 oz) of gold per year from a heap leach operation that processes ore derived from mineralised sandstones, breccias and conglomerates . The Lero mine has estimated reserves of 13.7 Mt grading at 2.6 g/t. Guinor gold has exploration programs in the area seeking extensions east of the Karta River. The nearby Karta open pit operation (containing a resource of 185 000t grading at 4.6 g/t) is supplementing ore feed to the Lero operation. SMD have recently outline additional gold deposits at Fayalala, 10km away from Lero, which has outlined a resource of 1.3 Moz gold. For the year 2001, Kenor anticipates production of over 110 000 oz gold from its Lero Karta and Fayalala operations. The company’s long term objective is to develop the Dinguiraye deposit into a 300 000 oz per year operation.
Semafo’s Kiniero (previously Jean Gobele) mine was officially opened in April 2002. The Kiniero Gold Mine is located 500km northeast of Conakry in central Guinea. The mine’ construction was completed within the budgeted $12.4 million. Kiniero has an annual production of 60 000 oz per year (46,728 oz in 2003). In 2003, an intensive delineation programme focusing on advanced targets in the near vicinity of active pits was successful in replacing the proven and probable mineral reserves already used, thus extending the life of the mine. The Banfara zone and the high-grade East-West zone are now contributing to the short-term (two years) mine plan. Resources at Kiniero now stand at 5.07 Mt averaging 3.12 g/t Au.
Cassidy Gold Corp has started a diamond-drilling programme to test a number of quartz-vein-hosted gold targets on its contiguous permits at Kouroussa. Mano River Resources Inc is also targeting quartz veins and porphyry mineralisation in shear zones in its properties at Missamana and Gueliban, east of Kankan.
Organisations (3)
La Societé Aurifère de Guinée, Societe Ashanti de Guinee, Societe Miniere de Dinguiraye :[ Add More ]
Facilities (20)
Aredor, Bankole, Bidikoum, Boke, Dinguiraye, Droubja, Fria, Friguia, Halco aluminium mine, Karta mine, Kerouane, Kindia, Kiniero, Lero Karta, Mifergui, Mount Nimba, Sangaredi, Siguiri, Silidara, Simandou :[ View All ]
Participating Organisations
AngloGold Ashanti Limited
Anglogold Ashanti has an 85% interest in the Siguri gold mine in Guinea.
Guinor Gold Corp.
Kenor, through subsidiary Societe Miniere de Dinguiraye (SMD) operates the Lero – Karta gold mine.
Semafo Inc.
Semafo operate the Kiniero Gold Mine in Guinea
