AFRICA

Mali has had a gold mining industry for hundreds of years , but in terms of commercial gold mining , the country has really come along way predominantly through the development of Randgold Resources over the last two decades ,” says Robert Monro , Head of Business Development , Hummingbird Resources .

Hummingbird Resources is another West African gold explorer that was founded in late 2005 , listed on the London Stock Exchange ( AIM ) in 2010 , and entered the Malian gold exploration space in 2014 through the acquisition of the Yanfolila Gold Project .

The Yanfolila Gold Project , a high grade open pit gold operation , predates Hummingbird Resources and was brought to a significantly advanced stage through the investment and previous ownership of Gold Fields , one of the largest gold producers on the global stage .

It was this advanced development , coupled with the geographical significance of Mali as the third largest gold producing country in Africa , that attracted Hummingbird to Yanfolila and the company acquired the project for $ 20m of stock back in 2014 .

“ What attracted us to it was the ability to finance and get into production , a very high margined low-risk gold project in a proven gold jurisdiction ,” says Monro .

Hummingbird will continue the development and construction of Yanfolila and bring forward a 1.2 MTPA gold project , which upon completion will produce an average of 110,000 ounces a year .

Advanced project For any exploration company , a significant hurdle that must often be overcome very early on in the process of developing an operation like this is financing the project and raising the necessary equity .

For Monro , Yanfolila ’ s reputation as a significant lowcost high-grade operation played a key role on this front .

www . hummingbirdresources . co . uk 31