Burkina Faso is a good place for gold mining: Goldrush Resources

Goldrush Resources (TSXV:GOD) is a Vancouver-based junior gold miner with interests in Burkina Faso in the western part of the continent.

Len Brownlie is the president and chief executive officer for the company.

“Burkina Faso is one of the best places to be,” Brownlie said in a telephone interview with MINING.com. “Costs are reasonable there.”

The region has one of the fastest growth rates and is one of the best areas for development and profit. About 60 mining companies are working in the area, with 20 Canadian firms and many Australian ones also.

Although it’s a relatively poor country, it has an incredibly stable government, he said, with a modern mining code. The code is transparent and compliant with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, to declare payments and disclose sales. Additionally, the majority of conflicts there are solved peacefully.

Officials recognize the benefits of “intelligent” mining and the country is quite accessible to mining. The landscape has no jungles and few mountains, Brownlie said, and the flat sub-Saharan Sahel is easy to explore.

He said it’s also geologically an excellent place, since it’s covered in birimian greenstones, similar to the Archaean Shield. The country saw a lot of modern exploration in the 1990s and mid-decade a number of deposits were found.

In 2012, 32 tonnes of gold were exported from Burkina Faso.

Goldrush Resources’ flagship project is the Ronguen gold deposit. It’s about 8 km northwest of Nordgold’s new Bissa gold mine, which is expected to produce to produce 100,000 oz. gold this year.

The Ronguen mineral resources estimate —

In the near-surface oxide zone:

• 4.143 million tonnes grading 1.12 grams of gold per tonne for 150,000 ounces of gold in the Measured category,
• 3.861 Mt at 1.28 g/t Au for 159,000 oz. Au in the Indicated category,
• 136,000 t at 1.91 g/t Au for 8,000 oz. Au in the Inferred category.

In the deeper fresh rock (sulphide) zone:

• 0.138 Mt at 1.14 g/t Au for 5,000 oz. Au in the Measured category,
• 0.345 Mt at 1.66 g/t Au for 18,000 oz. Au in the Indicated category,
• 0.754 Mt at 1.83 g/t Au for 44,000 oz. Au in the Inferred category.

Brownlie said the company has been very happy and interactions with the government have been good. He characterized the people there as “extremely honest” as well as “hardworking” and “friendly.” Overall, it’s been a success for their company.

Despite the difficult investment climate for junior companies, he is optimistic in the long term.

Images copyright Goldrush Resources