The Morila Gold Mine is an
open-pit gold mine situated 180 km south of
Bamako
Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...
, near the community of
Sanso
Sanso is a small town and commune in the Cercle of Bougouni in the Sikasso Region of south-western Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, ...
, in the
Sikasso Region of
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
. The operation is jointly owned b
Firefinch Limitedwho owns 80%, while the Government of Mali owns the remaining 20%.
Apart from Morila, Firefinch also owns the Goulamina Lithium Project in Mali.
History
The Morila Gold Mine is one the world’s great open pit gold mines, having produced over 7.5Moz of gold since 2000 at grades that were among the highest in the world, earning it the moniker “Morila the Gorilla”.
Firefinch acquired Morila for just US$28.9m in late 2020 with the strategic intent to rapidly increase production; initially targeting 70-90kozpa of gold from a combination of satellite pits, stocks and tailings, and thereafter growing production to 150-200kozpa of gold by mining the Morila Superpit.
Morila’s current Global Resource is 2.43 million ounces of gold (Measured: 1.73Mt at 0.5g/t gold for 0.03Moz, Indicated: 26.7Mt at 1.49g/t gold for 1.28Moz and Inferred: 22.1Mt at 1.58g/t gold for 1.12Moz). However, Morila’s geological limits have not been tested. Exploration is therefore a major focus at the existing deposits and multiple targets on the 685km
2 of surrounding tenure.
Production
Production figures of the recent past were:
References
External links
AngloGold Ashanti websiteRandgold website''Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States website''
Morila Gold Mine descriptionInternational Council on Mining and Metals, ICMM website
{{AngloGold Ashanti
Gold mines in Mali
Surface mines in Mali
AngloGold Ashanti
Sikasso Region
2000 establishments in Mali