Overview
The Fekola Gold Mine in Mali operates a state-of-the-art mineral processing plant designed for optimal gold recovery with efficient operating costs. The facility has undergone significant upgrades to increase its throughput capacity from an original 5 Mt/a to a current nominal 7.5 Mt/a, supporting the Life of Mine Plan (LOMP) mining rate of 7.75 Mt/a.
Key Process Stages
- Primary Crushing: Single-stage gyratory crusher producing 80% passing 150 mm material
- Ore Storage: 10,000 t live capacity crushed ore stockpile (11 hours operation)
- Grinding Circuit: SABC configuration (SAG mill – pebble crusher – ball mill) producing P80 of 75 µm
- Leaching: 7-tank circuit with 21 hours residence time, 50% slurry density
- Gold Recovery: Dual recovery through Carbon-in-Columns (CIC) and 6-stage Carbon-in-Pulp (CIP)
- Elution: Pressure Zadra system with acid wash pre-treatment
- Cyanide Destruction: SO2/air process reducing WAD cyanide to environmentally safe levels
- Tailings Management: Thickening to 60% solids before discharge to tailings storage facility
Critical Data
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Design Throughput | 7.5 Mt/a (20,548 t/d) |
| Head Grade | 2.50 g/t Au |
| Overall Recovery | 93.6% |
| Plant Availability | 94% |
| SAG Mill Power | 15 MW (upgraded from 10.5 MW) |
| Ball Mill Work Index | 20.3 kWh/t |
| Leach Residence Time | 21 hours |
| CIP Stages | 6 |
| Cyanide Addition | 0.78 kg/t |
| Quicklime Addition | 1.6 kg/t (90% CaO basis) |
Recent Upgrades
The plant underwent significant upgrades to achieve 7.5 Mt/a capacity including:
- Ball mill drive upgrade from 10.5 MW to 15 MW
- New cyclone cluster installation
- Additional leach tank
- Larger pebble crushers
- Increased tails pipeline diameter
- New lime slaker installation
Technical report and processing history
The following archived source profiles have been consolidated here to preserve the project’s processing history and study context.
Fekola Gold Mine — 2020 Technical Report
Fekola Gold Mine — 2020 Technical Report
| Company | B2Gold |
| Date | March 2020 |
| Region | Mali |
| Commodities | Gold |
| Mine Type | Open Pit |
| Throughput | 7.5 Mt/a |
| Mine Life | LOMP |
| Status | Operating |
Executive Summary
The 2020 NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Fekola Gold Mine in Mali, prepared by B2Gold, outlines the operational status and metallurgical flowsheet of the project. The report details a significant plant upgrade completed by the third quarter of 2020, which increased the nominal throughput capacity to 7.5 Mt/a from an original nameplate of 5 Mt/a. This upgrade included installation of upgraded ball mill drives, a new cyclone cluster, and additional leach tanks to support the planned Life of Mine Plan (LOMP) mining rate of 7.75 Mt/a.
The processing plant utilizes a robust SABC grinding circuit followed by a Carbon-in-Columns (CIC) and Carbon-in-Pulp (CIP) leaching circuit. The design achieves an overall gold recovery of 93.6% at a head grade of 2.50 g/t Au. Infrastructure includes a dedicated power station with HFO and diesel generators, with a 30 MW hybrid solar farm scheduled to be online by Q3 2020. Water management relies on pit dewatering bores and tailings storage facility decant systems.
Environmental and social considerations include a completed Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) updated in 2015, and a resettlement project for the village of Old Fadougou. The Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) was designed for 62 Mt of tailings and is expected to reach capacity in 2026. A valley to the north has been identified as a potential location for TSF expansion for operations starting in 2026 through 2030.
Reports
- reports/2020_B2Gold_Fekola_Gold_Mine
Website: https://www.b2gold.com/operations-projects/producing/fekola-mine-mali/
Report Date: March 2020
Region: Mali
Project Status: Operating
Commodity: Gold
Throughput: 7.5 Mt/a
Mine Life: LOMP
Mine Type: Open Pit
Ore type:
Fekola Gold Project — 2014 Technical Report
Fekola Gold Project — 2014 Technical Report
| Company | N/A |
| Date | 2014 |
| Region | Mali |
| Commodities | Gold |
Executive Summary
This section of the NI 43-101 Technical Report details the recovery methods for the Fekola Gold Project in Mali, based on Phase I and Phase II testwork completed as of March 2013. The process flowsheet is designed to treat 4 million tonnes of mineralized material per year at a life-of-mine average head grade of 2.73 g/t Au. The flowsheet utilizes proven technologies including crushing, semi-autogenous grinding, gravity separation, leaching, and electrowinning to recover gold.
The process begins with run-of-mine material entering an open circuit crushing operation featuring a jaw crusher, followed by SAG and ball milling in a closed circuit with a pebble crusher. Gravity concentration using Knelson concentrators is integrated to recover free gold prior to leaching. The remaining slurry undergoes Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) treatment in six tanks, followed by carbon elution using a split AARL circuit and electrowinning to produce gold sludge.
Final processing involves smelting the gold sludge into doré bars. The report notes that additional testwork is in progress to better define metallurgical response, acknowledging risk and upside opportunity due to variability in recovery results. Reagents such as sodium cyanide, lime, and hydrochloric acid are specified for the process plant operations.
Website: https://www.b2gold.com/operations-projects/producing/fekola-mine-mali/
Report Date: 2014
Region: Mali
Project Status:
Commodity: Gold
Throughput:
Mine Life:
Mine Type:
Ore type:
