The Yanfolila Gold Mine, located in southern Mali, is a high-grade open pit mining operation with significant underground potential. The mine produced 83,965 ounces of gold in 2023 and has a current reserve base of 493,000 ounces of gold at 2.56 grams per tonne (g/t).
The mine was built on time and on budget, producing first gold in 2017, and has paid off over US$100 million in debts and associated costs to fund its development and is focused on providing strong cash flow returns consistently to the business for the near, medium, and longer term.
With a focus on unlocking its significant underground potential, the Company is actively engaged in advancing the next phase of operations at Yanfolila. A pivotal aspect of this expansion is the ongoing development of the Komana East Underground Operation. This deposit boasts underground reserves totalling 265,100 ounces at 4.02 g/t and Resources of 468.9 koz at 4.58 g/t. Once operational, this underground operation is anticipated to play a pivotal role in overall production, securing Yanfolila’s future production profile.
Looking forward, the Company is strategically focused on maintaining and extending Yanfolila’s existing life of mine. To achieve this, comprehensive exploration plans are underway, targeting both greenfield and existing brownfield sites at Yanfolila.
Operational Overview
Presently, the Company operates its mining activities through a network of open pits, with a dedicated emphasis on ensuring a steady and robust cash flow. This commitment is evident in the continuous development open pits and underground deposits. The underground component is poised to emerge as a pivotal factor in extending the Life of Mine (LOM), particularly with the promising potential presented by Komana East and Gonka.
The carbon-in-leach process plant has a throughput capacity of 1.4 Mtpa when processing a blend of ore types, which was enhanced by the secondary ball mill project in 2019. When processing 100% fresh ore, the throughput capacity has been increased from 1 Mtpa to 1.24 Mtpa.
There are significant Indicated Resources both within the open pit and mine inventories that are not in the current mine plan. These will be targeted for conversion to ore Reserves in the future to increase both current forecasted annual production and to extend the mine life. There is a focus on exploration and underground development to delineate new Resources and Reserves to further augment the mine plan.
Mali: A Supportive Mining Jurisdiction
The Republic of Mali is Africa’s third largest gold producer and has a well-established mining industry of which Hummingbird is proud to be part of. The country is EITI-compliant and the mining sector is considered a priority industry. Mali has a long history of international mining companies operating in the country and gold constitutes approximately 90% of its mineral production. The Company continues to enjoy strong relations with the Malian government since its arrival in country in 2014, which has continually supported our Yanfolila Mine through its v development and into production.
Our exploration strategy seeks to bring as much of the Resources – over 1Moz – that are not currently in Reserves into the mining plan at the Yanfolila Gold Mine.
We will focus primarily on the areas that we consider will have the greatest positive impact on the mine life, while also looking to discover extensional Resources within the licence area to ensure a healthy pipeline of ore Reserves.
Announced in December 2023, the company provided an exploration update outlining a comprehensive Group exploration plan for FY-2024 onwards, with further updates to be provide during FY-2024 once drilling programmes get underway.
Key Focus Areas for Exploration Team:
Our primary focus is on maintaining and extending Yanfolila’s Life of Mine through brownfield and near-mine opportunities, encompassing both open pit and underground possibilities.
Hummingbird is confident Yanfolila will be operating well beyond the current Reserve base LOM primarily through upgrading the existing 1,424 thousand oz (“Koz”) Resource and developing underground potential at key deposits including Komana East, Komana West, Sanioumale West, Sanioumale East, and Gonka, all of which have identified underground Resources.
Greenfield Exploration:
Through our collaboration with Mira Geoscience Ltd, our team has identified promising greenfield areas for initial exploratory drilling. Key areas include Diaban Nord and Gonka South, where multiple targets have already been delineated, as below.
Target | Priority | Category |
Yanfolila Gold Mine, Mali | ||
Sanioumale West | 1 | Resource upgrade & extension |
Gonka | 1 | Resource extension |
Kama Oxide | 1 | Maiden MRE |
Guirin West | 2 | Resource upgrade |
Kabaya South | 2 | Resource upgrade |
Gonka Underground | 3 | Resource definition |
Komana East / Gonka Link | 3 | Greenfields |
Mira Targets | 3 | Greenfields |
Komana West | 3 | Resource extension |
| YANFOLILA, MALI RESOURCES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | kt | Au (g/t) | koz |
| Komana West (KW) | 2,045 | 2.18 | 143.1 |
| Komana East (KE) | 386 | 2.48 | 30.8 |
| Gonka (GK) | 632 | 2.12 | 43.1 |
| Sanioumale West (SW) | 1,789 | 1.64 | 94.4 |
| Sanioumale East (SE) | 1,520 | 2.85 | 139.1 |
| Komana West Underground (KW U/G) | 368 | 3.1 | 36.7 |
| Komana East Underground (KE U/G) | 3,182 | 4.58 | 468.9 |
| Gonka Underground (GK U/G) | 1,143 | 3.55 | 130.5 |
| Sanioumale West Underground (SW U/G) | 75 | 2.28 | 5.5 |
| Sanioumale East Underground (SE U/G) | 373 | 2.96 | 35.4 |
| Guirin West (GW) | 243 | 2.03 | 15.9 |
| Kabaya South (KS) | 2,020 | 1.31 | 85 |
| Kabaya South (KS - non-code) | 950 | 1.50 | 46.0 |
| Badogo-Malikila (BM - non-code) | 2,347 | 0.81 | 61.0 |
| Run-of-Mine Stockpiles | 1,633 | 1.08 | 56.6 |
| Heap Leachable Stockpiles (HLS) | 1,710 | 0.58 | 32.1 |
| Total Yanfolila Resources | 20,416 | 2.17 | 1,424.0 |
- Yanfolila Resources Statement effective as 31.12.23.
- See release 02 July 2024 titled “2024 Updated Company Reserves and Resources Statements” for more details.
| YANFOLILA, MALI RESERVES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | kt | Au (g/t) | koz |
| Komana West (KW) | 403 | 2.29 | 29.6 |
| Komana East (KE) | 371 | 2.25 | 26.8 |
| Sanioumale West (SW) | 114 | 2.07 | 7.6 |
| Sanioumale East (SE) | 1,066 | 2.41 | 82.5 |
| Gonka (GK) | 244 | 2.24 | 17.6 |
| Guirin West (GW) | 113 | 2.08 | 7.6 |
| Komana East Underground (KEUG) | 2,050 | 4.02 | 265.1 |
| Run-of-Mine Stockpiles | 1,633 | 1.08 | 56.6 |
| Total Yanfolila Reserves | 5,993 | 2.56 | 493.3 |
- Yanfolila Reserve Statement effective as 31.12.23.
- See release 02 July 2024 titled “2024 Updated Company Reserves and Resources Statements” for more details.
