Acacia Mining starts stoping at Gokona ahead of schedule

Acacia Mining said that it has begun stoping operations ahead of schedule at the Gokona Underground project in Tanzania, with the first ore having been delivered to the process plant.

Acacia said the first stope has to date demonstrated the expected geotechnical characteristics and delivered both grade and ore tonnes in line with the mine plan.

Stoping is the process of extracting the desired ore from an underground mine, while leaving behind an empty space known as a stope.

“We continue to expect a progressive increase in tonnes from the project as it ramps up through the year and maintain our current expectations for production from the Gokona Underground for the full year,” said the company.

RBC Capital Markets said the news is “a clear positive” as the successful development of the North Mara underground mine was one of the company’s key deliverables for 2015, the other being the successful ramp-up of production at the Bulyanhulu mine.