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
