Tasiast Mauritania

completed

Kinross Gold Corporation (Kinross) of Canada, through its wholly owned subsidiary Tasiast Mauritanie Limited S.A (TMLSA), owns and operates a gold mine in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Kinross has undertaken an expansion of the Tasiast gold mine (the project) and IFC is proposing a financing package to support the project. The IFC financing will help support the construction, development and operations (capitalized stripping activities and sustaining capex) necessary for an existing brownfield mine expansion and operation. Details of the IFC financing package can be found in the accompanying Summary of Investment Information (SII). Kinross operates an open-pit gold mine and associated infrastructure in north-western Mauritania, approximately 300 km north of the capital Nouakchott and 250 km southeast of the major city of Nouâdhibou. The Tasiast site can be accessed from Nouakchott via the paved Nouakchott to Nouâdhibou highway for 370 km and a 66 km graded mine access road, the latter is maintained and operated by TMLSA.  TMLSA also operates an airstrip at the mine site for light aircraft travelling to and from Nouakchott. Initial drilling of the Tasiast project was conducted by several operators beginning in 1999, with full exploration activities beginning in 2003. Mining operations commenced in 2007 with commercial production reached in January 2008.  Kinross completed the acquisition of the mine on September 17, 2010 from Red Back Mining Inc. Mining operations involve large scale and conventional truck and shovel open pit excavations.  Ore is crushed in a conventional gyratory primary crusher and fed to a conventional semi-autogenous grinding (‘SAG’) ball mill circuit with pebble crushing (SABC circuit).  Ore is fed to a carbon in leach circuit with gold doré poured on site.  Plant tailings are directed to a conventional downstream construction tailings dam which meets industry best practice design.  The main components of the project, all of which are located within a fenced area of approximately 125 km2 include: West Branch and Piment open pits; waste rock dumps (WRDs); run-of-mine (ROM) pad and low-grade ore stockpiles; crushing plant (primary crusher, SAG mill and ball mills); carbon in leach (CIL) plant; tailing storage facilities (TSFs); dump leach pads; process pond system; adsorption-desorption recovery (ADR) plant; explosives magazine; offices, laboratory, maintenance workshop and reagent storage warehouse; water treatment plant; domestic wastewater treatment plant; power plant; worker accommodation (Tasiast team village (‘TTV’) and Old Town); waste management facility (WMF) consisting of hazardous waste storage facility, non-hazardous waste sorting and storage area, incinerators, non-hazardous waste landfill, laydown areas and  emergency burn pad; airstrip; and approximately 130 km of mine access roads and internal haul roads.IFC’s financing is seeking to support activities necessary for mine operations following the completion of a 2018 capacity expansion, taking mine capacity from 9 kilotonnes per day (ktpd) to 15 ktpd. This was a front-end optimization project process plant expansion, commencing in 2016 and completing mid-end 2018.  The expansion included the installation of a new gyratory crusher and SAG mill with gearless mill drive (GMD) to increase the plant’s capacity, three leach tanks, new tailings facility capacity (TSF4), new process water pond and upgrades to some reagents’ areas. This expansion did not require expansion of the existing water supply and power generation systems. The project as defined above is located within the existing mine site perimeter fence, except for a water pipeline and a transmission line from the borefield (“Sondage”) to the site. Based on current resource estimates, the life of mine is expected to be 14 years (until 2033).  However, exploration is ongoing and optimization studies are continually undertaken, which could extend the life of the mine or increase the production levels.  Kinross also continues to evaluate alternative approaches to further increase throughput beyond the existing expansion through de-bottlenecking, continuous improvement and further optimization of the processing circuit.  Tasiast currently has the required permits to construct and operate up to 30 ktpd.The source of water for the Tasiast mine is a non-potable saline groundwater wellfield (Sondage) located approximately 65 km west of the mine, close to the Nouakchott-Nouâdhibou N2 highway. Electric power is provided by three plants (heavy fuel oil (‘HFO’) / light fuel oil (‘LFO’) generator sets) and is authorized to generate up to 50 megawatt-electrical (MWe). In addition to site infrastructure, TMLSA has an administrative office and guesthouse for transiting employees in Nouakchott.The TTV, construction of which was completed in the first quarter of 2013, can accommodate a workforce of 3,540 personnel. It includes various facilities, such as a medical clinic, laundry, kitchen and dining areas, gymnasiums, recreational rooms and various sportsgrounds. Old Town is the original mine camp, which has been re-furbished for contractor accommodations. Old Town can accommodate 695 people. In addition to TMLSA, Kinross currently has another subsidiary in Mauritania with active exploration permits. Société d’Extraction du Nord de l’Inchiri S.A. (SENISA) holds two exploitation permits (for Tmeimichat and Imkebdene areas). IFC’s financing is not in support of any exploration or development operations in the SENISA concessions.  Any future mining in these areas that might be managed by TMLSA, would be conducted in a manner consistent with the Performance Standards and in line with its existing processes and management systems.  The project is located in a region with a low population density, with no incorporated towns or settlements near the mine. There are approximately 70 households (about 300 people) living a semi-nomadic lifestyle within a 30 km radius of the mine site. The closest settlements are the towns of Chami, Boulanour, Akjoujt and Bennichab, which are respectively 80 km southwest, 120 km northwest, 150 km east-southeast and 130 km southeast from the mine site respectively.The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), provided a guarantee to the project in January, 2018 (project #13481).