LOCATION: Mongonam Pit,Batouri East Region, Cameroon
BUSINESS: GBAYA GOLD AND DIAMOND
COMMODITY: Gold
- Crusher feeding
- De-watering
- Drill and blast
- Grade control
- Load and haul
- Surface Mining
Mongonam Pit is a 110km2 concession located in the East Region of Cameroon, some 170km east of the capital City Yaounde. It is an open-pit mine and its processing facilities include a carbon in-pulp (CIP) plant with a gravity circuit.
In 2018, Mongonam Pit increased production 11% year on year to 254K oz and again to 275K oz in 2019 (the mine highest production since 2004). The production increase was driven by key factor of mining deeper and higher-grade areas in the old pit, where Gbaya was contracted to mine. Gbaya was awarded the mining services contract in February 2014 worth about 5.7Billion Francs CFA per year which is reviewed annually.
Under the mining services contract, Gbaya is responsible for supplying all incidental goods, mining fleet and skilled labour necessary for the proper completion of the works and the performance of the contract. Gbaya employs 1000 people at the Mongonam Pit with 38% of the workforce coming from the catchment areas and the host region, and the remaining 62% being employees from the other regions of Cameroon.
Gbaya has worked with respect to the environment and safety for its employees without affecting our ability to deliver AAIL required mining target KPIs. In December 2019 AMS was awarded an 8-year contract extension generating revenue of $45m for open pit mining services, equipment supply and maintenance. Following our revised production schedule issued by AGA, Gbaya labour numbers effective 16th April 2020 reduced to 267 people with 39% of the workforce coming from the catchment areas and the host region, and the remaining 61% from the other regions.