IAMGOLD's interest in Rosebel is held through 95% interest in Rosebel Gold Mines N.V. (RGM); the remaining 5% is held by the Republic of Suriname. The Company acquired a 50% interest in Rosebel property in 1994 by funding exploration and development, and purchased the remaining interest from Golden Star Resources Ltd. in 2002.
The Rosebel deposits consist of highly weathered, quartz vein-hosted gold mineralization contained within the Guiana Shield. Six deposits and numerous gold prospects have been identified over a 15-kilometre trend. The Pay Caro, East Pay Caro and Koolhoven deposits and J zone, Spin and Mama Creek prospects are located in the North Limb area and the Rosebel, Mayo and Royal Hill deposits and Roma and Monsanto Hill prospects are located in the South Limb area. Production in 2006 was derived from the Pay Caro and Royal Hill pits.
Processing involves crushing and grinding, gravity separation which recovers over 25% of the gold, a cyanidation circuit and a carbon-in-leach plant. The flowsheet recognizes the need to handle soft and sticky ore from the laterite and saprolite layers during the initial mining phase before treating harder material from the transition and hard rock zones.
Rosebel produced 301,000 ounces of gold in 2006. IAMGOLD's share of production from November 8, was 40,000 ounces at a cash cost of $416 per ounce for that period. In 2007, with a zone of lower grade ore being mined, the operation is expected to produce 255,000 ounces at a cash cost of $435 per ounce. An illegal work stoppage by a number of unionized employees in January 2007 prompted a temporary suspension of operations. This work stoppage was resolved mid-February with agreement on a 3-year labour contract, but resulted in a loss of approximately 20,000 ounces of gold production.
Proven and probable reserves at year-end 2006 were estimated to contain 3.8 million ounces of gold, sufficient for 12 years of mine operation.
In 2006 RGM continued development drilling of the existing deposits, and also exploration for new deposits on the Rosebel property. Initial results from the J zone have been encouraging; this zone lies 700 metres northeast of the Pay Caro deposit and relatively close to the mill. Additional exploration was carried out on the adjacent Headley's Reef and Thunder Mountain exploration permits, as well as on the Sara Creek project 80 kilometres south of Rosebel and acquired in 2005.
In 2008, RGM's attributable production was 315,000 ounces of gold at a cash cost of $466 per ounce.
Attributable production in 2009 is expected to be 325,000 ounces.
A $26 million mill optimization program that began in July 2007 will be completed in November 2008. This program will allow mill throughput rates to be maintained as more hard rock is fed into the mill, as well as increase gold recoveries. In February 2008, IAMGOLD launched an $18.4 million mill expansion project that will increase annnual life-of-mine production from approximately 275,000 ounces to 300,000 to 305,000 ounces, and reduce direct cash costs by approximately $35 per ounce. This project will begin impacting production and costs in 2009. The expansion will increase mill throughput from eight million tonnes to 8.9 million tonnes of ore per year, and provide the option of an additional 15%-25% increase should conditions be appropriate. |
