Morila Gold Mine / Credit: Firefinch Ltd./ Twitter
Capital (LSE:CAPD), a leading mining services company focused on the African markets, announced a new contract and subsequent mobilization of an initial four drill rigs to Firefinch Limited’s (‘Firefinch’) Morila Gold Mine (‘Morila’) in Mali in November. The rigs are part of Capital’s existing West African fleet and will undertake an extensive delineation program under a two-year preferred contractor agreement between Firefinch and Capital. The first rig is now on site, with the balance scheduled to arrive during the current quarter.
Firefinch (ASX:FFX), rebranded from Mali Lithium earlier this month, announced the acquisition of Morila, a transformational transaction, which immediately transitions the company to a gold producer. Morila, previously owned by Barrick Gold Corporation and AngloGold Ashanti, has historically produced 7.4 moz of gold. The acquisition includes a 4.5 million tonnes per annum plant, 1.3 moz of gold resources and established on-site infrastructure including a mill, crushers, diesel power station, laboratory and associated support infrastructure.
Firefinch intends to invest heavily in drilling programs at the mine and surrounding targets, citing it had been more than a decade since any major drilling programs had been undertaken on the Morila licenses. As such, it will immediately commence drilling all four deposits at and around the mine. Firefinch intends to commence mining operations from the satellite pits in 2021.
Under the preferred contractor arrangement, Capital and Firefinch will work closely together on the drill programs and assess opportunities for additional services as the mine transitions back to traditional mining operations. The contract with Firefinch further strengthens Capital’s footprint in Southern Mali, complementing our existing long-term contracts with Hummingbird Resources (Yanfolila) and Resolute Mining (Syama).
