Buzwagi Gold Mine Tanzania – History, Operations, Location and More
The Buzwagi Gold Mine is located 6 kilometers on southeast side of the Kahama district in Tanzania’s Shinyanga region. ABG (African Barrick Gold), a division of Barrick Gold, owns and operates the mine 100 percent.
It is Tanzania’s single biggest open-pit mining operation. By December 2011, the mine employed around 2,099 people.
In the year 2000, ABG bought the Buzwagi mine. The mine’s feasibility studies were concluded in 2006. The mine was first developed in 2007 and finished in 2009. The mine started operating in May 2009 and is scheduled to close in 2022.
In 2011, the Buzwagi mine yielded 196,541 oz of gold, a 6% increase compared to the year before. The breakdown of a semi-autogenous grinder motor at the mine’s processing plant in May 2011 resulted in a 15,000oz reduction in gold output.
Buzwagi Mine’s Porphyritic Granite Topography and Copper and Gold Deposits
The Buzwagi gold mine is located in a porphyritic granite fleece-hosted quartz-veined deposit. As of December 2011, the mine has 61.4 million tons (Mt) of proven and probable reserves, grading 1.47g/t Au (2.9Moz gold equivalency) and 0.114 percent Cu (154Mlbs copper As of December 2011, the mine has 61.4 million tons (Mt) of proven and probable reserves, grading 1.47g/t Au (2.9Moz gold equivalency) and 0.114 percent Cu (154Mlbs copper
Ore Processing and Open-Pit Mining at Tanzania’s Single Biggest Deposit
“The energy utilized at the Buzwagi gold mine is provided by the Tanzania Electric Supply Company’s (Tanesco) national grid.”
Buzwagi was built as an open-pit mine and is now being mined using a truck and shovel. Drilling, blasting, loading, and transporting are all part of the ore extraction process. 3 blast hole drill rigs, 15 transport trucks, front-end loaders, dozers, Komatsu shovels and 3 excavators, are among the mining equipment.
The ore is hauled to the processing plant in haul trucks with a capacity of 150 tons. The processing facility has a daily capacity of 12,000 tons of ore. A flotation and carbon-in-leach circuit, a SAG mill, a primary jaw crusher, CS2000 ACACIA reactors, and – Knelson KC-XD48 concentrators are among the equipment used.
In a main jaw crusher, run-of-mine ore is crushed to a high degree of fineness. The crushed ore is sent into a SAG mill, which grinds it. To generate oxide ore, the ground ore is transported to Knelson KC-XD-48 concentrators and CS2000 ACACIA reactors.
Gravity, flotation, and a carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit are used to process the oxide ore. To make the pregnant solution, it is delivered to cyanide leach tanks holding leach solution. The solution is transferred to the adsorption tanks, where the gold binds to the carbon surface. A gravity and flotation circuit separates the gold from the carbon. To be reused, the solution is transported to the tailings storage facility.
The gold precipitates are washed with high-pressure sprays, dried, and melted before being transported to the smelter to generate pure gold ore bars.
Transport Routes to Tanzania’s, Shinyanga Buzwagi Gold Deposit
A neighboring paved roadway, a 1,580m runway, and the Isaka railway hub, which links to the Dar es Salaam Port on the Indian Ocean, all serve the Buzwagi gold mine.
Contractors Participating in the Mining Project of African Barrick Gold
AGB hired Knelson Gravity Solutions to equip the Buzwagi processing facility with Knelson concentrators (KC) and ACACIA reactors.
“African Barrick Gold (ABG), a unit of Barrick Gold Corporation, owns and operates the mine 100 percent.”
Vacon offers eight megawatts of variable speed AC drives, ranging from the smallest three-amp Vacon NXS units to the biggest 1,500-amp Vacon NCX units for speed control. Two 1,500-KVA 12-pulse transformers and 10 soft starters were also given by the business.
Tanesco’s (Tanzania Electric Supply Company) national grid supplies the energy utilized in the Buzwagi gold mine.
Komatsu and Pan African Corporation have been tasked with supplying ABG with 46 machinery and six generator sets for use at the mine.
Buzwagi Gold Mine Contact Details
Buzwagi Gold Mine Address
BUZWAGI GOLD MINE
P.O. Box 1101
Kahama
Shinyanga
Tanzania
Tel: +255 22 216 4200, +255 22 2600 604
Fax: +255 732 173 836
Telephone: +255 22 216 4200
Tan House Tower, Plot Number 34/1
Ursino South, New Bagamoyo Road
Post Office Box 1081, Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
Buzwagi Gold Mine Email Address – Currently not publicly listed
Buzwagi Gold Mine Job Vacancies 2021 and Forward – https://www.barrick.com/English/careers/default.aspx
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