The Rosebel gold mine is jointly owned by Iamgold (95%) and the government of Suriname (5%). The mine is located in the mineral-rich

Brokopondo District Brokopondo is a district of Suriname. Its capital city is Brokopondo; other towns include Brownsweg and Kwakoegron. The district has a population of 15,909, and an area of 7,364 square kilometres. History The Brokopondo district was establish ...

in northeastern

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, South America. The Rosebel property lies approximately 85 kilometers south of the capital city of

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

. The mining concession covers 170 square kilometers.

History

Gold was first discovered in the Rosebel area in 1879 when small-scale miners were reported to have been working on the concession. Since its discovery, the land has been both publicly and privately owned and operated. Notable private owners have included Placer Development of Vancouver from 1974 to 1977, the Grasshopper Aluminum Company from 1979 to 1985 and

Golden Star Resources Golden Star Resources Ltd was a Canadian company that owned and operated the Wassa gold mine in Ghana. The company formerly owned and operated the Bogoso-Prestea gold mine, also in Ghana, from 1999 to 2020. Headquartered in London, but with a re ...

Ltd. from 1992. In October 2001,

Cambior Cambior Inc. was a Canadian based international gold producer with operations, development projects and exploration activities in the Americas. Cambior's shares traded on the Toronto (TSX) and American (AMEX) stock exchanges under the symbol "CBJ" ...

acquired Golden Star's interest in the Rosebel property. Commercial production commenced in February 2004. Iamgold acquired Rosebel as part of its acquisition of Cambior in late 2006. In 2008 total employment at the mine was 1199 people. The property is accessible via paved and all-weather gravel roads from Paramaribo, a drive of about 110 kilometers. There is a small

airstrip An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

located onsite approximately 2 kilometers from the mill operations. The Rosebel concession owns this Gross Rosebel Airstrip, which is 1 kilometer long and security personnel is responsible for airstrip maintenance and lighting. Rosebel's power is sourced from the nearby

Afobaka Dam The Afobaka Dam is an embankment dam with a main gravity dam section on the Suriname River near Afobaka in Brokopondo District of Suriname. The primary purpose of the dam is to generate hydroelectric power and it supports a 180 MW power stati ...

and from a diesel generation plant. In June 2013, IAMGOLD and the government of Suriname signed the agreement extending the lease until 2042. On May 28, 2014, IAMGOLD began installation of what will be the largest solar panel project in Suriname. The project will cost $14 million and, will increase the power available to the mine. Striking goldminers in Suriname

In July 2017, Iamgold disclosed that they had increased their reserves by 80% and that the ounces they were adding would extend the life of the mine to 2028. In July 2019 there were disturbances at the mine that made the news. One man was killed after the police tried to move on locals who were prospecting on their own account. The local parliamentarian

Diana Pokie Diana Marilva Pokie (born 1979) is a Surinamese politician. She was the assembly member from Brokopondo for the Brotherhood and Unity in Politics (BEP) before she was expelled. She returned to the assembly as the Brokopondo member representing the ...

had to intervene. She called upon the mine owners to find a solution and that they should pay compensation to the dead man's family.

Production

, the Iamgold subsidiary company Rosebel Gold Mines N.V. operates the Rosebel gold mine with the

Government of Suriname Politics of Suriname take place in a framework of a representative democracy, representative democratic List of countries by system of government#Assembly-independent republican systems, assembly-independent republic, whereby the president of Suri ...

owning a 5% stake. It is located near the town of

Brownsweg Brownsweg is a town and resort in Suriname in the Brokopondo District. Its population at the 2012 census was 4,793. History The town was named after the road that leads to the Brownsberg, and the Brownsberg Nature Park. It is situated near the ...

and an open pit mine.

and

had conducted the exploration and development work to bring the mine into commercial production in 2004. Golden Star sold its stake to Euro Ressources S.A. which Iamgold acquired in 2008 while Iamgold earlier acquired Cambior in 2006. With 2.9 million ounces in proved and probable reserves as of 2020 (with additional reserves in the neighboring Saramacca expansion property and potential for zinc extraction), the mine has produced approximately 300,000 ounces of gold per year. The Rosebel gold mine began commercial production in 2004 and as at the end of 2016 had produced 4.4 million ounces of gold. Rosebel gold 2

Recent production figures of the mine were:

References

External links

{{commons category, Rosebel Mine
IAMGOLD website

Case study on use of IDAS radios
from

Icom Incorporated is a Japanese manufacturer of radio transmitting and receiving equipment, founded in 1954 by Tokuzo Inoue with the company's original name being "Inoue". Its products now include equipment for radio amateurs, pilots, maritime applications, land ...

Gold mines in Suriname