Bristow commends Tongon mine performance through turbulent time

The company says the performance was driven by strong plant throughput, with a runtime record of 95.2% having been set in October.

This improved throughput, coupled with cost-reduction initiatives at the mine, should have a positive impact on per ounce costs for the full year.

Barrick CE Mark Bristow says Tongon had to overcome enormous obstacles to achieve this "exceptional" performance.

The mine was built and commissioned in the midst of a civil war and has since operated in an unstable socio-political environment, while being impacted by a mill fire, recurring technical issues and erratic grid power supply.

“Despite all these challenges, Tongon has been consistently profitable and, in 2020, again paid a $150-million dividend to its shareholders. It provided $1.2-million to the government to support its campaign against Covid-19, while implementing effective prevention measures at the mine to protect its people and the business.

“The mine also maintained its commitment to its host community with the installation and startup of a number of income-generating projects,” Bristow points out.

The Tongon mine had the best safety record in the global Barrick portfolio, until it suffered one lost-time injury on October 28 last year. The mine had recorded more than 15-million lost-time injury-free work hours over 1 120 days.

The mine spent $105-million, or 66% of its procurement budget for the year, with local contractors and suppliers in 2020.

Since Tongon poured its first gold in 2010, it has paid more than $1.6-billion into the Ivorian economy in the form of taxes, infrastructure development, salaries and payments to local suppliers.

The company states that the mine life currently extends to 2023, but opportunities for replacing reserves are being pursued.