West Africa region

After a comprehensive appraisal of the owner versus contractor options, Tarkwa’s strategy is to return to a contractor mining model in 2018, with the objective of controlling costs, leveraging cash-flow and reducing the AIC/oz.

Good progress was made on the Damang reinvestment project in 2017, with focus on waste stripping the Damang complex to expose the ore body and return the mine to a cash-generative, long-life position.

WEST AFRICA REGION SALIENT POINTS


Mineral Resources

14.8Moz*

Mineral Reserves

7.6Moz*
*90% attributable to Gold Fields

Operational profile   Damang   Tarkwa
Mining method   Open pit   Open pit
Infrastructure   Five open pits and one CIL gold plant with a current capacity of 4.2Mtpa   Four open pits and one CIL gold plant with a current capacity of 13.5Mtpa
Mineralisation style   Hydrothermal (orogenic) and palaeoplacer   Palaeoplacer and hydrothermal exploration targets
Mineralisation
characteristics		  
  1. Hydrothermal mineralisation hosted by structural shears and fault zones
  2. Confined to well-defined prospective structural belts
  3. Mineralisation within pods with short-range predictability
  4. Exploration and resource definition programmes required to define the mineralisation controls and continuity
  5. The palaeoplacer characteristics are the same as for Tarkwa
  
  1. Mineralisation hosted within sedimentary conglomerates of the Tarkwaian Group
  2. Laterally continuous with mid- to long-range predictability
  3. Clear patterns of mineralisation governed by sedimentary characteristics
  4. Resource definition programmes ongoing to test homogeneity of geology and grade domains
  5. Targets are both palaeoplacer and hydrothermal