Morila

Overview

The Morila mine is situated some 180km southeast of Bamako, the capital of Mali. The operation currently treats low-grade stockpiles. The plant at Morila, which incorporates a conventional CIL process with an upfront gravity section to extract the free gold, has an annual throughput capacity of 4.3Mtpa.

The gold deposit at Morila was discovered in 1996 by Randgold which subsequently financed it and opened the mine. Since production began in October 2000, Morila has produced more than 6 million ounces of gold. Morila ceased pit mining in April 2009 and as of 2012 it was processing lower grade stockpiles. Beyond 2013 the mine would move toward processing tailings, marginal ore and mineralized waste stockpiles which would extend the mine life to 2021.

The mine is 80% owned by Morila Limited, a joint venture in which AngloGold Ashanti and Randgold Resources Limited each have a 50% stake, giving AngloGold Ashanti an effective interest of 40% in Morila. The government of Mali owns the remaining 20%. Randgold Resources manages the mine.

Location

The Morila Permit is located 180 km southeast of Bamako within the region of Sikasso within the West African country of Mali.

Mali is a landlocked country in western Africa. It is one of the world's poorest countries with the main economic activity represented by agriculture. Gold mining constitute an important part of the country's exports.

Geology & Mineralization

The Morila deposit lies in a small enclave of sediments, which is possibly a graben like structure between the Massigui and Doubalakoro granite batholiths. The granitoid batholiths west of the Banifin structure demonstrate heterogeneous deformation with zones of weak and intense foliation as well as isotropic relatively undeformed fabrics. These features are characteristic of tectonics with an important shear component. The Morila orebody is located predominantly in metasediments within a broad NNW trending corridor of shearing. This shear zone has both near vertical and flat-lying components. It is interpreted as being a second order shear off the main Banifing shear approximately 25 km to the east. The Doubalakoro granite pluton bounds the sediments to the west and the Massigui granite to the east.

The Morila orebody is developed within upper greenschist to amphibolite facies of pelitic and psammitic rocks. Their mineralogy is dominated by biotite (30%), plagioclase (30%) and quartz (30%). Muscovite, chlorite and epidote occur in minor amounts but locally can become significant especially in the hanging wall and footwall. Arsenopyrite is by far the most dominant sulphide (80%) followed by lesser amounts of pyrrhotite (15%) and pyrite (5%) and trace amounts of chalcopyrite and ilmenite. Molybdenite has also been observed. Accessory minerals include rutile, sphene/leucoxene, magnetite and cubanite.

As of December 31, 2011 mineral reserves were calculated at 8.12 million tonnes grading 1.24 g/t gold containing 320,000 oz gold.

Mining & Operation

The gold deposit at Morila was discovered in 1996 by Randgold which subsequently financed it and opened the mine. Since production began in October 2000, Morila has produced more than 6 million ounces of gold. Morila ceased pit mining in April 2009 and as of 2012 it was processing lower grade stockpiles.

Morila will continue the current process of treating low-grade ore stockpiles until 2013. Beyond 2013 the mine would move toward processing tailings, marginal ore and mineralized waste stockpiles which would extend the mine life to 2021.

Mining contractors are being used to mine and transport the ore to processing facilities.

Processing

The plant at Morila, which incorporates a conventional carbon-in-leach (CIL) process with an upfront gravity section to extract the free gold, has an annual throughput capacity of 4.3 million tonnes per year.

Morila’s total production for 2011 was 248,635 ounces at a cash cost of $782 per ounce.

Environment & Community 

The safety statistics for Morila are reported by Randgold Resources, the operator, and are not included in AngloGold Ashanti’s statistics.

ISO 14001 certification was maintained after an external assessment audit was completed during 2010. No non-conformance issues were raised.

The mine maintained a good relationship with communities and regular meetings were held. All community development projects planned for the year were completed. The mine continued to provide malaria spraying services and treated five villages during 2010, through three spraying cycles.

Morila’s closure committee is operational and meets quarterly. A sustainable agribusiness project is being developed to continue wealth creation after closure of the mine, with 1,270ha having been identified for agriculture. Plans are in place to convert the bulk mining yard and the batch plant into an area for poultry farming and animal husbandry.

The micro-finance project (CAMIDE) has funded 20 undertakings for former staff members. Morila’s management and unions are formulating a social plan for employees. The ongoing closure process focuses on the social plan submitted by labour unions and the closure coordinator, as well as engagement with government agencies to provide training assistance to affected employees.

The New Mine Collective Convention was implemented in September 2010, with no major issues identified. Compulsory health insurance and the payment of the related subscription came into effect in November 2010