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September 13, 2008
Burkina Faso - Mine, all mine!
Mining in Burkina Faso has become more accessible to foreign private companies over recent years, and - for better or for worse - here they come, taking advantage of the stability of the country and its attempts to make business more attractive to outside investers - not to mention the huge amounts of money to be made. But will it actually benefit the country...?
The area around Gorom-Gorom is one of the major areas of mining interest in Burkina - not only for gold and manganese, but now also uranium - yes, that stuff they use to make nuclear weapons...
* Uranium Mine. Apparently the mining rights have been obtained to look for uranium around Oursi in Burkina Faso, about 25 miles north of Gorom-Gorom. Australian company Southern Cross, in consortium with the Canadian company Crosscontinental and others, has been granted two Exploration Permits for uranium in Burkina Faso.
In neighbouring Niger, there is much debate as to whether the uranium found there has been a blessing or a curse. Niger has one of the world’s largest reserves of uranium. But, according to IRIN, analysts show that uranium mining by foreign-dominated companies has produced little for the country but environmental damage, health problems, and domestic political tensions, including attacks by the armed militia of the "Niger Movement for Justice" (MNJ).
* Gold Mine. Meanwhile, back at Essakane, 20km east of Gorom-Gorom. Canadian company Orezone (who bought out South African Gold Fields for $200 million last year) has secured a $330-million financing for its gold mining project there. Orezone now expects to spend $420-million to bring the mine into production. The Essakane mine is expected to produce an average of 315 000 oz/y of gold over a 9,4-year life.
Unless I'm much mistaken that's about $2.5 BILLION of gold in the ground of the poorest part of the third poorest country in the world.... I wonder how much the locals will get to see of that... The whole town of Essekane - and several other villages - are being moved to make way for the mine. I hope that Orezone sees the opportunity here to impact the region for good, and not just rape the area for the benefit of its shareholders.
* Manganese Mine. And at Tambao, about 40 miles north-east of Gorom-Gorom, the manganese mine is rumoured to be up for grabs again. The manganese deposits are potentially Burkina's most important resource, with a proven reserve of "4.6 million tonnes at 56.8% manganese". This makes it one of the world's richest sources of the mineral. Previous attempts at mining have been hindered by transport problems - Tambao is very remote, and the mountain was literally being trucked to the coast then shipped to South Africa for treatment. Political manoeuvering and corruption were of course also blamed at the time, with so much at stake.
Now, it seems Coronation International Mining Corporation (CIMC) has been granted an exclusive rights to conduct feasibility studies and, if positive, to exploit Tambao. It seems CIMC was bought by our friends at Orezone in 2002 for $7.216 million. CIMC is apparently looking at using "small 1 MVA portable furnaces". They estimate, at a market price of $1,000 per tonne, an annual revenue of US$12 million...
The mining companies must be thrilled at the opportunity to make so much money from such a poor country. I can imagine them rubbing their hands with glee...
"Burkina is mine, all mine...!"
Tags: africa sahel burkina burkina faso mining gold uranium manganese
Posted by Keith at September 13, 2008 09:06 AM
