Namibia
Navachab
Key statistics
| Navachab | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay limit | (oz/t) | 0.07 | 0.05 | 0.04 |
| (g/t) | 2.53 | 1.55 | 1.29 | |
| Recovered grade | (oz/t) | 0.052 | 0.046 | 0.042 |
| (g/t) | 1.80 | 1.58 | 1.43 | |
| Gold production | (000oz) | 86 | 65 | 68 |
| Total cash costs | ($/oz) | 727 | 622 | 534 |
| Total production costs | ($/oz) | 786 | 663 | 601 |
| Capital expenditure | ($m) | 14 | 20 | 12 |
| Total number of employees | 687 | 578 | 482 | |
| Employees | 687 | 578 | 482 | |
| Contractors | – | – | – | |
| All injury frequency rate | (per million hours worked) | 25.60 | 26.30 | 20.63 |
| Outlook for 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production | (000oz) | 83 – 87 | ||
| Total cash costs | ($/oz) | 921 – 955 | ||
| Capital expenditure | ($m) | 10 |
Gold production
(000oz)
Capital expenditure
($m)
Total cash cost
($/oz)
Total number of employees*
Description
The Navachab gold mine is situated near the town of Karibib, some 170km northwest of the capital Windhoek and 171km inland on the southwest coast of Africa.
Navachab, which began operations in 1989, is an open-pit mine with a processing plant which includes a mill as well as CIP and electro-winning facilities, all with a monthly capacity of 120,000t.
In addition to the current operation, a Dense Media Separation (DMS) plant with a monthly capacity of 120,000t was commissioned during 2010.
Operating performance
Gold production increased by 32% to 86,000oz in 2010, due to greater volumes mined from the bottom of the pit and the treatment of high-grade concentrate from the DMS plant.
Total cash costs rose by 17% to $727/oz as a result of higher labour and power costs and rising contractor fees, though this was partly offset by an increase in production.
Capital expenditure for the year was $14m, which included $9m spent on stay-in-business projects, $3m to complete construction of the DMS plant and $2m on exploration.
Growth prospects
The optimisation process at Navachab indicated that the main pit will be expanded to the east from 2011 to access footwall mineralisation north of the current east pushback. The west cut is expected to be mined from 2013 to access the hanging wall mineralisation. Exploration during 2011 will focus on the down plunge extension of the existing orebody of the main pit. Drilling will focus on the North Pit 2 and the down plunge extension, while also exploring the strike extent of the satellite target areas where previous exploration indicated potential, as well as the western limb of the fold hinge at anomaly 16. This campaign has the potential to add approximately 450,000oz to the Mineral Resource at a cost of approximately $7/oz.
Outlook for 2011
Gold production for 2011 is expected to be between 83,000oz and 87,000oz, at a total cash cost of between $921/oz and $955/oz.
Capital expenditure of $10m is forecast for 2011, of which $7m is stay-in-business expenditure primarily to be spent on the water filtration plant and heavy mining equipment.
Sustainability
Safety
The all injury frequency rate per million hours worked improved from 26.30 in 2009 to 25.60 in 2010.
Navachab complied with OHSAS 18001 assessments conducted in March and October 2010.
Safety interventions include ongoing speed surveillance on the access roads in the mine, quarterly vehicle safety audits, regular safety representative meetings and quarterly safety steering-committee meetings. The behavioural safety initiative, known as Ostrich, is ongoing and has begun to produce results.
Community
Navachab made contributions to educational projects, including the ‘Spell it Right’ competition, spring school for grade 12 learners and prize giving ceremonies at local and regional schools. Navachab also sponsored the building of a house for volunteer teachers at the local government school, contributed to the young scientist exhibition and made its annual donation to the private school in the town of Karibib.
A pool of 100 unemployed women was identified in Karibib in order to create ad-hoc employment on a short-term basis where possible.
Environment
No reportable environmental incidents occurred during 2010.
The construction of the water filtration plant commenced in 2010 with commissioning planned to be complete by the third quarter of 2011. This facility will ensure additional recovery of water from the plant to eliminate the need for a third TSF and also negate the inherent safety, health and environment risk associated with a TSF.
ISO 14001 environment certification was maintained during the year. Navachab further received a formal notification of compliance with the Cyanide Code from the Code Secretariat.