UK-listed Hummingbird Resources said it had approved construction of a second ball mill in anticipation of increasing throughput of ore at its Yanfolila Gold Mine, an operation in southern Mali.
The ball mill comes as Hummingbird embarks on an exploration drive to increase reserves at Yanfolila. The drilling is predominantly targeting the conversion of resources to reserves as well as finding new reserves not previously defined as resources, the company said.
“Approving the second ball mill, in place of the tertiary crusher, at the same time as releasing our initial results from the 2018 exploration programme shows the confidence we have in increasing our Reserves at Yanfolila,” said Daniel Betts, CEO of Hummingbird. “The second mill will give us greater flexibility and 24% more throughput when operating on 100% fresh ore,” he said.
In July, Hummingbird said it had sold 38,726 ounces of gold in the second quarter – the first full quarter of production at Yanfolila. Some 33,101 oz of gold was poured in the quarter at an all-in sustaining cost of $790/oz. The gold was mined at an average grade of 3.43 grams per tonne. The gold was sold at an average price of $1,307/oz.
