(Kitco News) – Nord Gold, the internationally diversified gold producer, announced Thursday that its Lefa mine team has started mining at the new satellite Diguili deposit in the Republic of Guinea.
Nordgold, through its ownership of the Lefa mine, is one of the largest gold producers in the Republic of Guinea and an important contributor to the country’s economic and social development.
The Diguili deposit, which is located approximately 35 km from the processing facility at the Lefa mine, was significantly expanded by the Lefa team after a successful regional exploration programme.
COO Louw Smith said, “A core pillar of Nordgold’s strategy is to expand our resource and reserve base through both organic growth and selective acquisition of high value projects. Our acquisition of Lefa in 2010, combined with the extensive exploration programme we have undertaken since then, is precisely in line with that strategy. The Diguili deposit was identified by our exploration team and it will now make a strong contribution to the overall Lefa mine performance.”
The Lefa gold mine is located approximately 700 kilometres northeast of Conakry, Guinea. The mine is owned by Société Minière de Dinguiraye, in which Nordgold holds a controlling interest of 85% – with the remaining 15% held by the Guinean government.
Nordgold is an internationally diversified one million ounce gold producer with about 7,800 people operating a portfolio of nine mines (in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Russia and Kazakhstan) and a number of development and exploration projects in West Africa, Eurasia and the Americas.