Mining company JCI is moving into Africa in a big way, reports Karen Harverson
Unbundled mining company JCI Limited is vigorously expanding throughout Africa in the search for mineral
Business development general manager Peter McKenna says most of JCI’s projects in Africa are still in the early development stages, but if successful, he expects gold production from the continent to contribute significantly to the company’s overall gold output within a number of years.
The company has a new business development budget of some R60-million for the 12-month period ending in June 1996. While some of this will be spent on exploration in South Africa, most is destined for Africa.
Of its present gold exploration projects in Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, Zambia and Swaziland, the most advanced is the redevelopment of Ghana’s Prestea gold mine and the potential of the near-surface gold deposits in its 10 900ha concession area.
An agreement, signed last week with the State Gold Mining Corporation of Ghana (SGMC) and the Ghanaian government, gives JCI the right to undertake six to seven months of due diligence studies with a view to proving additional ore reserves and to increasing the existing 175 000t a year output of the mine.
If the underground operations prove viable, JCI will take over the management of the mining operation and continue on a further exploration project to establish the extent of additional underground and near-surface ore reserves.
A target deposit of at least a million ounces of gold is expected and JCI believes the potential is even greater.
McKenna says the two-to-three-year work programme, prior to the decision to establish a mining operation, will cost several million dollars.
If feasibility is confirmed, JCI will begin mining. Initial capital costs are unknown but could be around $50-million to $100-million.
Another JCI prospect in Ghana is a grassroots exploration project known as Japa. It is in the same geological area as newly established Ayanfuri mine, with potentially a similar type of deposit.
“We are still interpreting the preliminary geochemical results but expect that exploration drilling will begin by the end of the year,” says consulting geologist Andy
Also in Ghana, the company is about to launch a joint venture with Canadian company Patrician Gold Mines. This has a number of exploration prospects in the early
In Mali, JCI is involved in a joint venture with Ashanti Goldfields Corporation and the Mali government to reopen the underground Kalana Mine, last operational in 1991 when it was run by the Russians.
Killick says a shallow drilling programme began in July and a two-to-three-year exploration work programme is
Tanzania has vast potential for mineral development and competition among mining companies is fierce. In the last two years, JCI has expanded its interests in the country to include prospects in the Lake Victoria area.
Besides these, JCI signed a letter of intent with Canadian exploration company Tan Range two weeks ago, to acquire a strategic 15 percent of the company at a cost of $1,7-million.
Tan Range has 12 exploration licences for gold and four for diamonds in Tanzania plus exploration licences in Zambia and Ethiopia.
The agreement, expected to be signed by the end of October, will entitle JCI to earn up to 51 percent of any projects which advance to the feasibility stage.
To add to its Tanzanian interests, the company this week signed a second joint venture with Patrician, which has a number of exploration prospects in the country. The agreement entitles JCI to earn the majority stake and management of any of Patrician’s exploration projects.
In Zambia, JCI is monitoring the proposed privatisation of the Zambian Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM).
“We’re primarily interested in the opportunities the privatisation would present as well as a number of gold and base metal prospects elsewhere in the country,” says McKenna.
Closer to home, JCI announced in July this year its award of a special prospecting licence in Swaziland for exclusive rights to explore 10 000ha.
“We know there’s gold there — the project is at an advanced exploration stage — and we’re trying to establish the extent of the mineralisation we know exists,” says Killick.
Although it does not have a permanent presence in Burkino Faso or Ethiopia, JCI has undertaken reconnaissance field trips to those countries and is pursuing a number of opportunities relating to joint ventures and licence applications.
“We’re also assessing opportunities in Angola and Mozambique, both countries in which we had a firm presence prior to 1975. Our primary interest in re- entering Angola would be to explore for base metals and gold whereas previously our interests also included platinum and uranium,” says Killick.