Operation works at Yanfolila gold mine in Mali have been restarted. Hummingbird Resources (LON: HUM) made the announcement and said the move follows an improvement in the security situation that forced the company to halt operations at its only producing mine earlier this week.
The company said the Malian government had intervened to clear illegal roadblocks and restore public order in the region.
“All employees and contractors have been safely accounted for with national Mali government personnel remaining in place as the Yanfolila mine begins ramping back up to normalized production levels,” it said.
Hummingbird warned that the stoppage will affect full-year production, placing it below the bottom end of the 2021 guidance range. The miner had expected to produce between 100,000 to 110,000 ounces of gold from Yanfolila this year.
Yanfolila Gold Project
The Yanfolila Gold Project is located 40km west of the town of Yanfolila, in the Sikasso region of Mali, near the border with Guinea. he optimisation study for the project was completed in March 2015, following which the initial earthworks were initiated and completed by September 2015. The definitive feasibility study (DFS) was completed in January 2016.
The project is 85% owned by Hummingbird Resources (HUM), who acquired it from Gold Fields in November 2014. Private Malian company Société Malienne de la Petite Mine owns 5% share in the project, while the Mali Government owns the remaining 10% and has an option to increase its stake by an additional 10%.
The Malian gold project has an estimated production life seven years and aims at developing a 1.24Mtpa processing plant and producing approximately 121,000oz of gold a year. It is expected to generate approximately 900 jobs during the construction phase and 800 jobs during the production phase.
