Mana, Burkina Faso - Semafo is a Canadian-based mining company with three gold mines situated in the West African countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea, where the company carries out gold production and exploration. In 2007, gold production at the Kiniero mine in Guinea and Samira Hill mine in Niger totalled 106,400oz, an increase of 12% over 2006.
In March 2008 Semafo opened a new mine in Mana, Burkina Faso. This site represents not only the most technically advanced site in the country but also marks the third time the company has successfully brought a West African gold project into production. Despite working in a challenging environment, whereby delivery delays in the manufacture of plant and mining equipment are experienced worldwide, construction of the Mana mine was completed within two months of the original schedule.
To provide utility power to the new site, Semafo required a solution that considered the harsh desert conditions, the need for 24/7 mains power (as the site had no other means of power generation) and that could be put in place ready for the plant's March opening. In November 2007 Cummins Power Generation's Belgian distributor, BIA Overseas, fought off competition from rivals such as CAT to provide the ideal power solution.
BIA Overseas delivered eight C1400 D5 generator sets with KTA50 engines to provide a total of 10 MW units of mains power to the site. The generator sets operate at the plant continuously, using a DMC200 control system. Semafo chose the Cummins Power Generation generator set because of its ability to deliver reliable high power even in the most rugged conditions. It also appreciated the excellent reputation of BIA Overseas for customer service and its competitive prices.
Cedric Martin, BIA Overseas, says, "Given the importance of this project we provided a high power solution with control options including remote cooling, to ensure the Mana site keeps operating regardless of environmental factors. Semafo is a new customer for us so we wanted to provide them with the high quality service that our current clients have come to expect of us. With such a tight deadline for the build of the site it was important that we delivered a solution that not only matched the customer's requirement but did so on time. We hope that the success of this project will be reflected in future projects with Semafo."
BIA Overseas worked closely with Cummins Middle East to deliver the project, providing the sets as well as building the facility to house them.
Gilles Garaud, business development manager for Africa, said, "We are delighted to be associated with the opening of the prestigious Mana site and to have had the opportunity to deliver a quality power solution that matches Semafo's own high standards. Our enviable track record in the delivery of reliable and high power sources in a broad range of conditions was responsible for attracting the attention of Semafo. The company was also reassured by the established reputation of Cummins Power Generation customer service, which is second to none - and of course by our competitive prices."
Since the first gold pour in March 2008, production at the Mana mine has been between 60,000oz and 70,000oz of gold, with greater production predicted for 2009.
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