Yatela Mine

The Yatela Mine is an open-pit gold mine situated near Yatela, 25 km north of Sadiola, in the Kayes Region of Mali. It is a single-pit operation. Commencing operation in 2001, heap leaching together with carbon-loading is carried out at a rate of approximately 2.9 million tonnes per year. The final step of eluting carbon and smelting the gold in the gold recovery process is completed at the Sadiola Gold Mine.[1]

Yatela
Location
Yatela Gold Mine
Location in Mali
LocationSadiola
RegionKayes
CountryMali
Coordinates14°5′N 11°45′W
Production
Production222,000
Financial year2009
History
Opened2001
Owner
CompanyAngloGold Ashanti (40%)
IAMGOLD (40%)
Government of Mali (20%)
WebsiteAngloGold Ashanti website
IAMGOLD website

Apart from Yatela and Sadiola, AngloGold Ashanti's also operates the Morila Gold Mine in Mali. The production of its mines in Mali contributed 8 percent to the company's overall production in 2008.[2]

Ownership

The operation is 80% owned by the Sadiola Exploration Company Limited, a joint venture in which AngloGold Ashanti and IAMGOLD each have an effective holding of 40%. The Government of Mali owns the remaining 20%.[1]

History

Mining in this region of Mali, according to old workings, dates back at least 1,000 years and written records confirm that small scale mining was carried out there for most of the past 300 years. From 1987 onwards, the government of Mali carried out exploration activities in the area.[3]

In late 1997, IAMGOLD and Anglo American purchased the rights to the mining concession. In 1998 and 1999, a feasibility study was carried out. Anglo American eventually transferred its rights to AngloGold, which, in 2004, became AngloGold Ashanti. Development of the mine begun in 2000 and it opened in 2001. While the mine is owned jointly by AngloGold Ashanti, IAMGOLD and the government of Mali, AngloGold Ashanti is the operator of the mine.[3]

In 2009, the mine employed just over 800 people.[1]

Production

Production figures of the recent past were:

Year Production Grade Cost per ounce
2003 [4] 218,000 ounces 2.84 g/t US$ 235
2004 [4] 242,000 ounces 3.41 g/t US$ 255
2005 [4] 246,000 ounces 2.99 g/t US$ 263
2006 [5] 352,000 ounces 4.12 g/t US$ 228
2007 [1] 165,000 ounces 3.46 g/t US$ 322
2008 [1] 301,000 ounces 2.66 g/t US$ 572
2009 [1] 222,000 ounces 3.62 g/t US$ 368
2010
gollark: Where is it?
gollark: Cool.
gollark: I think there's a rule about defacing the environment, but that means it's fine to mine out everything under y=40 or so because nobody looks there.
gollark: It might be annoying to route around claims. But I think you could do it if they also had a block scanner (or a few did) or pickaxes.
gollark: With some Wojbie2-style setup to attain fire aspect books it would probably be possible to get more lasers than that, and the bot could also supervise the turtles so no human input is needed.

References
  1. Annual Report 2009 AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 27 July 2010
  2. Country report: Mali AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 26 July 2010
  3. Yatela Gold Mine, Mali: Overview IAMGOLD website, accessed: 28 July 2010
  4. Annual Report 2005 AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 11 July 2010
  5. Annual Report 2006 AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 11 July 2010
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