Gold Mining in Tanzania
Tanzania is the 3rd largest gold producer in Africa after Ghana and South Africa, and accounts for 1.3% of the total global gold production in 2021. Tanzania’s gold reserves are estimated at about 45 million ounces and Tanzania’s annual gold production stands at around 50t per year.
Gold exploration is mostly centered on the greenstone belts around Lake Victoria, where several large deposits have been discovered and are being developed. TRX Gold’s Buckreef Project is located in the Geita District of the Geita Region, south of Lake Victoria, approximately 110 km southwest of the city of Mwanza, Tanzania. Buckreef is situated about 45 km to the west of Barrick Gold’s Bulyanhulu gold mine and nearly 35 km south from AngloGold Ashanti’s flagship Geita mine in north-central Tanzania.
Regional Infrastructure
Because of the surrounding region’s long history in gold mining, all of the necessary infrastructure that is crucial to a mining operation is found at site. The Buckreef Project area can be accessed by ferry across Smiths Sound, via a tarred national road and, thereafter, via well maintained unpaved regional roads. Furthermore, the Buckreef Gold Project runs almost entirely on hydro-electricity, being connected to the local electric grid, making it a sustainability-focused project.
Buckreef Gold Overview
The Buckreef Project comprises five prospects, namely Buckreef, Bingwa, Tembo, Eastern Porphyry and Buziba. The Buckreef Project itself encompasses three main mineralized zones: Buckreef South, Buckreef Main and Buckreef North. The Buckreef Gold Project is fully licensed for mining and the extraction of gold.
TRX is currently producing gold at its 1,000 tonnes per day processing plant, as a result of two successful mill expansions in 2022-2023. Nameplate capacity was attained at the end of October 2022, or Q1 2023. TRX Gold is currently advancing work for a 3rd mill expansion at Buckreef Gold, with commissioning expected to occur during the second half of fiscal 2024, which will increase ore throughput by 75%-100% at full capacity. Production guidance for fiscal 2024 is established at 25,000 to 30,000 ounces of gold, with annual cash costs1 guidance estimated to be US$800 to US$900 per ounce.
The Company plans to use cash flow from current production to expand its exploration program which began in 2021, as well as to advance the metallurgical study of its Sulphide Development Project. Approximately 90% of Buckreef’s gold resource is held in sulphide material. Through the drill-bit, the Company plans to expand the scale and scope of the Buckreef Gold project beyond the initial NI43-101 Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource of 35.88 MT at 1.77 g/t gold containing 2,036,280 oz of gold and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 17.8 MT at 1.11g/t gold for 635,540 oz of gold (0.4g/t cut-off)2. (see Press Release June 24th, 2020) NI43-101 Independent Technical Report , Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Buckreef Gold Mine Project, Tanzania, East Africa.
1 The company has included certain non-IFRS measures in this presentation. Refer to pages 37 and 38 of the Company’s August 31, 2023 MD&A for an explanation, discussion and reconciliation of non-IFRS measures.
2 See Disclaimer and Cautionary Note section of the website
