The Samira Hill Gold Mine (fr. ''Mine d'Or du Mont Samira'') is a

gold mine Gold Mine may refer to: *Gold Mine (board game) *Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena *"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album '' ADHD'' See also * ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith *Gold mining ...

Téra Department Téra is a department of the Tillabéri Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Téra. As of 2011, the department had a total population of 579,658 people. History Téra Department covers most of the historic territory of Liptako. Today ...

of the

Tillabéri Region Tillabéri (var. ''Tillabéry'') is one of the eight Regions of Niger; the capital of the Region is Tillabéri. Tillabéri Region was created in 1992, when Niamey Region was split, with Niamey and its immediate hinterland becoming a new ''capital ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesgold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

have long been known to exist in Niger in the region between the Niger River and the border with

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

, and artisanal gold mining has previously taken place in the area.Background Note:Niger
United States State Department, Bureau of Public Affairs: Electronic Information and Publications Office. Bureau of African Affairs. September 2008. ''This article incorporates text from this U.S. government source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

''. The ''Namaga concession'' upon which the Mine was built, is hoped to be the first mine to produce

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

from the Tera

greenstone belt Greenstone belts are zones of variably metamorphosed mafic to ultramafic volcanic sequences with associated sedimentary rocks that occur within Archaean and Proterozoic cratons between granite and gneiss bodies. The name comes from the green ...

which surrounds Koma Bangou, the country’s largest

artisanal mining An artisanal miner or small-scale miner (ASM) is a subsistence miner who is not officially employed by a mining company, but works independently, mining minerals using their own resources, usually by hand. Small-scale mining includes enterprises ...

site. Koma Bangou was first discovered by ONAREM (''l'Office National des Resources Minieres'', the Nigerien government's mining company) in 1985."The Mineral Industries of Africa"
''1994 Minerals Yearbook''.

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

(August 2007). ''This article incorporates text from this U.S. government source, which is in the

SML consortia

The mine is operated by Moroccan headquartered SML (Societe des Mines du Liptako), a joint venture between

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Societe Semafo Inc and Canadian

Etruscan Resources Endeavour Mining is a multinational mining company that owns and operates gold mines in Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The company is headquartered in London, England, and has cross listed on the London Stock Exchange in the United K ...

Incorporated. Both companies own 80% (40% - 40%) of SML and the Government of Niger holds a 20% stake. The mine site itself was created around the Samira Hill gold deposit, found on the ''Tiawa exploration permit'' and the Libiri gold deposit (three kilometers away) found on the ''Saoura exploration permit''.The Samira Hill Gold Mine
Etruscan Resources Inc. (2006).

Production

On 5 October 2004, President

Mamadou Tandja Mamadou Tandja (1938 – 24 November 2020) was a Nigerien politician who was President of Niger from 1999 to 2010. He was President of the National Movement for the Development Society (MNSD) from 1991 to 1999 and unsuccessfully ran as the MNSD ...

announced the official opening of the Samira Hill Gold Mine, and the first Nigerien gold

ingot An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sh ...

was presented to him. This marked a historical moment for Niger as the Samira Hill Gold Mine represents the first commercial gold production in the country.Thomas R. Yager, Omayra Bermúdez-Lugo, Philip M. Mobbs, Harold R. Newman, and David R. Wilburn. http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2005/myb3-sum-2005-africa.pdf "The Mineral Industries of Africa"]. ''2005 Minerals Yearbook''.

(August 2007). ''This article incorporates text from this U.S. government source, which is in the

. The mine's two pits are open pits, 3 km from one another, both around 5 km north of the Burkina Faso border, and 95 km west-north-west from Niamey. The larger Samira Pit and the Libiri pit run east–west along the site, with Libiri pit to the east. The ore processing is done by crushing, grinding, and carbon leaching (

Gold cyanidation Gold cyanidation (also known as the cyanide process or the MacArthur-Forrest process) is a hydrometallurgical technique for extracting gold from low-grade ore by converting the gold to a water-soluble coordination complex. It is the most commonly ...

), which requires a pipeline pumping water from the nearby Sirba River, to the east of the site, as well as a large reservoir and waste pits. The first year’s production is predicted to be 135,000

troy ounces Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and the ...

(4,200 kg; 9,260 lb

avoirdupois The avoirdupois system (; abbreviated avdp.) is a measurement system of weights that uses pounds and ounces as units. It was first commonly used in the 13th century AD and was updated in 1959. In 1959, by international agreement, the definiti ...

) of gold at a cash value of USD 177 per ounce ($5.70/g). The mine reserves for the Samira Hill mine total 10,073,626 tons at an average grade of 2.21 grams per ton from which 618,000 troy ounces (19,200 kg; 42,400 lb) will be recovered over a 6-year mine life. SML believes to have a number of significant gold deposits within what is now recognized as the gold belt known as the "Samira Horizon", which is located between Gotheye and

Ouallam Ouallam is a town around 90 km north of Niamey in southwestern Niger. It is the capital of Ouallam Department, one of four departments in the Tillabéri Region. Culture Historically centered in the lands of the Djerma people, Ouallam has impo ...

. Prior to production, the estimated totals of both pits were 10.08 million t grading 2.2 g/t Au (ore), from which it was projected 618,000

would be produced in the estimated 6.2 years of mine life. Etruscan has projected that the Koma Bangou deposit contains reserve of 315000 oz of gold. In 2008, Semafo announced it had discovered two new possible mine sites on its concessions, to the east and west of its current mines. Sikia 1, 1 km in length, is southeast of Libiri pit, while Libiri Plateau, northeast of the Libiri pit, runs 500 meters. It is thought the immediate are could produce pits 10 km east and west of the current site.Semafo Discovers Two New Gold Zones at Samira Hill, Niger
Resource Investor:Montreal, Quebec, January 15th, 2008.

References

{{Reflist

External links

(official site).
The Samira Hill Gold Mine
Etruscan Resources Inc. (official site).