Operations

The Rosebel gold mine is located in the mineral rich Brokopondo district in north eastern Suriname, South America. Suriname is a former Dutch colony situated in northern South America bordering the Atlantic Ocean between French Guiana and Guyana. The country covers an area of approximately 163,270 square kilometres with a population of around 500,000.

The Rosebel property lies approximately 85 kilometres south of the capital city of Paramaribo. The mining concession covers 170 square kilometres, with the Suriname River to the east, the Saramacca River to the west and the Brokopondo reserve to the south. 

The property is accessible via paved and all weather gravel roads from Paramaribo, a drive of about 110 kilometres. There is a small airstrip located onsite approximately 2 kilometres from the mill operations. Suriname’s Zanderij International Airport is approximately 60 kilometres by road north of Rosebel. 

Electrical energy is purchased directly from the Surinamese government and from a parastatal energy company. Rosebel’s power is sourced from the nearby Afobaka hydroelectric generating station, an 8 MW solar farm and from a diesel generation plant.

Rosebel commenced production in 2004 and as of the end of 2015 had produced 4.1 million ounces of gold.  Rosebel is forecasted to produce between 300,000 and 310,000 ounces of gold in 2016.

The Company expects mining activity in 2016 to be comparable to 2015. Operational enhancements continue as the Company explores further opportunities to improve performance, manage grades and reduce unit production costs. As soft rock milled continues to decline, increasing mill capacity for the processing of hard rock is a main priority.

A number of cost-free initiatives such as changing grinding media size and the configuration of mill liners, along with the low-cost installation of secondary crusher, are being implemented in an effort to aid the transition of soft rock to hard rock.

Exploration in the JV areas within the vicinity of Rosebel mine continues to remain a priority. Finding a mineable resource of softer rock will allow the mine to continue to maintain high throughput levels and to take advantage of a negotiated price for power that is lower than the rate currently paid for processing ore from the existing concession. A revised life-of-mine plan for Rosebel, completed in December 2015, demonstrates a mine life of 6.6 years and average attributable gold production of 316,000 ounces per year.