Mining

Allied Gold is working to raise output from its African mines in 2025. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Allied Gold is looking to lift production significantly in the coming year from its portfolio of gold mines across Africa

The Canadian gold miner operates a portfolio of producing assets and development projects in Africa located in Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Ethiopia.

In an outlook statement, the company reported that its mines are expected to produce between 375,000 and 400,000 gold ounces in 2025, a significant increase on 2024.

The increase is in keeping with a large programme of work at each of its mines, which include Sadiola in Mali, a long-established gold producer.

Here, the first phase of expansion works commenced in Q4 2024 and is advancing on schedule and on budget, with earthworks and structural fill, along with engineering, procurement and mobilisation for mechanical contractors progressing well, Allied Gold reported.
 
“The first phase of plant expansion involves installing additional crushing and grinding capacity in one of Sadiola's processing lines, which will be dedicated to processing fresh ore. These modifications will allow Sadiola to treat up to 60% of fresh rock at a rate of up to 5.7 Mt/y in the modified process plant starting the fourth quarter of 2025,” it stated.

With the completion of plant modifications in the first phase, Sadiola is expected to produce between 200,000 and 230,000 ounces of gold per year in the medium term, ahead of the next phase of expansion.

This second phase expansion, expected to be completed in late 2028, will target a production level of 400,000 gold ounces per annum over the first four years and 300,000 gold ounces per annum over the life of the mine.

In Ethiopia, at its Kurmuk mine, development works are also well underway, including main camp construction, along with engineering and procurement activities.

Mining activities here are planned to start in the latter part of Q1 2025 with capital spending of US$280mn for the full year, and the first gold anticipated in the first half of 2026.

Kurmuk is expected to deliver 175,000 gold ounces for the partial year of production in 2026, an average production level of approximately 290,000 gold ounces per annum over the first four years and 240,000 gold ounces per annum over the life of the mine.

In Côte d’Ivoire, Allied Gold is also working up production from its Bonikro and Agbaou mine sites.

Bonikro is expected to achieve stable gold production during the outlook period, with a goal of averaging 100,000 ounces annually.

At Agbaou, gold production is expected to remain consistent each year throughout the outlook period, not falling below 87,000 ounces annually, Allied Gold reported.

Read more: Mali agrees new terms with Canadian gold miner Robex

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Metso lands new, undisclosed contract in Africa (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Metso has won an order to provide repairs and upgrades for a bucket-wheel stacker reclaimer at an undisclosed stockyard operations site in Africa

The scope of delivery includes upgrades and modernisations of the mechanical, structural and electrical components to enhance the customer’s operational efficiency and reliability.  

“This order highlights our capability to offer comprehensive services in bulk material handling and to deliver tailored solutions as a trusted OEM partner,” said Scott Pringle, director, service technical support, Africa Metso.

“The customer not only benefits from maximised reliability but also improved safety. Metso’s parts are designed to require less maintenance, aiming for a sustainable return on investment.”

The value of the order was not disclosed, nor the customer name, nor the country or location.

Metso has a long track record serving Africa’s mining industry and, in January this year, inaugurated its new screen centre in Germiston, Johannesburg, South Africa.

In December 2024, it also secured a contract with Montage Gold for the delivery of key minerals processing equipment for the Koné Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire, a deal worth over US$50mn.

This project includes delivery of a large dual-pinion premier grinding mill with an installed power of 22MW and an HRC 2400e high-pressure grinding roll (HPGR), which combines energy-efficiency and high throughput while reducing operational costs.

Danilo Caserta, product manager, stockyard machines at Metso, said the company’s extensive experience as a stockyard equipment supplier enables it to extend stacker and reclaimer service life.

“Metso has combined the best features from our industry-leading legacy brands with modern technology to bring innovative and reliable solutions,” said Caserta, following the latest undisclosed contract.

“Through the use of advanced engineering tools, we integrate technical and machine know-how with high-quality components and service to safeguard customers’ machines and maximize equipment life.”

Caserta added that Metso’s expert teams can assess and perform engineering services and execute highly complex projects.

Headquartered in Finland, the company is engaged in sustainable technologies, end-to-end solutions and services for the aggregates, minerals processing and metals refining industries in Africa and globally.

Metso Corporation is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki with close to 17,000 employees in around 50 countries and sales of about US$5bn in 2024.

Read more: Metso unveils Johannesburg screen centre

Mali is Africa's second-biggest gold producer (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Canadian mining group Robex has signed a new agreement with Mali to operate its Nampala gold mine

The company has been operating the mine since 2017, but the new agreement reflects changes to the West African country’s mining code. The new rules compel international firms to pay higher taxes and also to hand over bigger shares in assets to the state, moves which have ruffled feathers among foreign investors.

Mali is Africa’s second biggest gold producer.

In a statement, Robex managing director Matthew Wilcox said that he was grateful for getting the new deal over the line.

“I would like to thank their excellencies, the Minister of Mines, the Minister of Economy and Finance and all the parties involved for constructive discussions over the past few months, and we look forward to working alongside the government,” he said.

However, last September, the company had indicated that it was ready to sells its Nampala asset but had not received any acceptable offers.

Mali's Council of Ministers also released a statement this week stating that the company was now looking to produce 1.4 tons of gold per year for a period of eight years.

“Geological research carried out by the company has identified a deposit with mineral reserves estimated at 17,351,000 tons with a gold content of 0.70 grams per ton,” it stated. The statement added that the government had signed a memorandum of understanding with the company in September that allowed Mali to increase its stakeholding in the Nampala project, entitling the state to priority dividends.

The Nampala mine in southern Mali is approximately 300 km south of the capital, Bamako. The open-pit mine uses conventional surface mining techniques and process to recover gold. The mine is excavated using a conventional truck and shovel operation.

The widest equipment used by the contractors is a Caterpillar 773B haul truck, matched with a 385 hydraulic excavator.

Nampala first reached commercial production in January 2017, with output rising rapidly on the back of exploration work, eventually hitting peak production at 8047tpd in mid 2022.

But other mining groups, such as Barrick Gold, have yet to reach a successful resolution with the Mali regime following the change in rules. In a 12 February statement, the company stated that “ongoing issues in Mali remain an investor concern” and acknowledged that this had dragged on share prices. Barrick’s chief executive Mark Bristow told Reuters in an interview that the company still hopes to restart operations at its shuttered Loulo-Gounkoto mine as soon as local authorities allow it to resume gold shipments.

Barrick Gold is the largest single investor in Mali’s gold mining sector.

 Read more: Barrick's commitment to Mali's mining sector

Sandvik Rock Processing pilots its Remote Monitoring Service (RMS) in Africa, enhancing crusher efficiency, uptime, and sustainability. (Image source: Sandvik)

To address the increasing demand for remote monitoring of crushing operations, Sandvik Rock Processing is trialling its Remote Monitoring Service (RMS) in Africa 

At Electra Mining Africa 2024, Sandvik Rock Processing introduced RMS—a digital solution enabling remote oversight of crushing processes—signalling a new era of digital services for African mining operations.

“RMS is the latest addition to our suite of existing digital technologies,” commented Nils-Peter Ahlqvist, sales support manager of Africa & Latin America – Crushing Division at Sandvik Rock Processing. “It complements our ever-evolving Automation and Connectivity System (ACS) and SAM by Sandvik cloud-based digital assistant. RMS translates vast amounts of data acquired from Sandvik crushers into actionable recommendations, reducing operating costs and boosting productivity and sustainability.”

Optimising crushers with RMS

By analysing deviations in both crusher performance and machine health, RMS identifies issues and recommends corrective measures based on real-time data. This proactive approach enables customers to anticipate and resolve potential problems before they escalate, reducing operational disruptions.

Additionally, RMS enhances machine visibility, allowing operators to replace worn parts before they fail. Over time, the collected data helps identify frequently replaced components, ensuring that critical spare parts are always available, thereby preventing unnecessary downtime.

Mines leveraging RMS can achieve greater operational efficiency through continuous 24/7 data analysis, optimising equipment usage, and minimising unplanned stoppages. Increased uptime translates to improved machine utilisation, ultimately lowering the cost per hour of operation.

“In addition, the data gathered on crusher performance makes optimisation easier with the ultimate goal of enhancing business performance. The alerts, available 24/7, also help reduce high wearing of crusher components, which is detrimental to material consistency and has negative cost implications,” added Ahlqvist. 

Maintaining machines in peak condition not only improves cost efficiency but also reduces energy consumption, helping customers minimise their environmental footprint.

“Energy efficiency and sustainability have over the years become a key part of business decisions for mining companies, especially on the back of growing pressure for the industry to improve its sustainability performance. With RMS, we are bringing yet another set of advanced digital services to help the industry increase efficiency while reducing carbon emissions,” concluded Ahlqvist.