Morila SA mine: A mine that meets the expectations of the populations of its operating areas
Environment Mining Company
lesoussolmali
December 29, 2022
Firefinch Ltd is an ASX-listed gold miner and lithium developer with two outstanding assets in Mali – the Morila Gold Mine and the Goulamina Lithium Project.
MORILA is one of the world's largest open pit gold mines, having produced over 7.5 Moz of gold since 2000 at some of the highest grades in the world, earning it the nickname "Morila". the gorilla ". Firefinch acquired Morila at the end of 2020 with the strategic intention of rapidly increasing production; targeting 150-200 kozpa of gold. Morila's current global resource is 2.5 million ounces of gold, however, Morila's geological limit has not been tested. Exploration is therefore a major priority on the surrounding 620,000 ㎡ of tenure.
GOULAMINA is one of the largest undeveloped high-grade spodumene deposits in the world. In partnership with Ganfeng, Goulamina will be put into production. A 50/50 joint venture was formed, with Ganfeng contributing up to $194 million in funding. Goulamina as a long-life, large-scale, low-cost surface mine project is expected to produce 726,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate at an attractive average cash cost of US$312/t. The company is in the process of spun-off Goulamina into a new ASX-listed entity, Leo Lithium.
FIREFINCH is a responsible miner. We support positive social and economic change by contributing to the communities in which we operate. We seek to buy local, employ local and support local socio-economic initiatives, while operating in a way that preserves the environment and puts the safety and well-being of our team at the top of our priorities.
The Morila mine, which was to close by 2020 and 2021 to turn into an agribusiness center, finally found a new investor, FIREFINCH, which took over activities after the departure of the Barrick company.
Contrary to allegations of discrimination in the process of recruiting residents of villages impacted by mining activities, the new company has promoted the employment of local youth.
According to the mine workforce report, of the 1,707 employees, 29% come from the neighboring communities, namely: the villages of Morila, Finkolo, Sanso and Domba. “These figures do not take into account the number of people employed by the GIEs and the daily workers with whom the mine subcontracts certain activities, explains the human resources manager, Mamadou Traoré.
Economic interest groups also in turn employ hundreds of people. To confirm this thesis, investigative journalists, accompanied by the community development department of the mine, toured the company and the villages impacted by mining activities to witness it firsthand.
Approached, the general manager of the mine Drissa Arama will tell us that
the expectations of the community living near the mine have become greater since its reopening by the company Firefinch, but that time remains the best judge.
''Our policy is that the people of the locality can derive maximum benefit from the gold mining activity. We have developed a community recruitment program and also developed community development projects in the areas of health, education, agriculture, animal husbandry, art and culture so that community can benefit from this activity. We are in the process of developing training programs for young people in the community, of which 4 out of 8 trainees are already ready to drive heavy machinery. The Morila mine has built classrooms, health centers, boreholes in several localities affected by the activities of the mine and contributes more than 500 million CFA francs per year, distributed between the region,
The involvement of the administration in the activities of the mine
According to the administrative authorities, the administration is strongly involved in all the activities of the mine, and that recruitment at the local level is done legally.
Traoré Fatou Traoré, sub-prefect of Sanso
''There is a good collaboration between the mine and the administration of Sanso. The administration is strongly involved in all the activities of the Morila SA mine, because the administration is here within the framework of the advisory support and the control of legality.
“ There are 4 villages that are affected by mining activity: Morila, Domba, Sanso and Fingola. In all these localities, there are Local Development Committees (CLD) and funds to be managed under the watchful eye of the administration
. With regard to recruitment, the mine recruits more than 100% in the community concerning unskilled labour, but the recruitment of skilled labor concerns all Malians whose community is privileged in the event of equal competence.
Teneman DIARRA, Mayor of Wola
The report is there, you arrived this morning unannounced, but you found us all together in meeting: the elected officials, the administration and the agents of the mine. So the collaboration is straightforward. The mine does nothing without consulting us. Thanks to the mine, we have built a school administration, a maternity ward, a dispensary with a pharmacy, and a borehole. The contribution of the mine in relation to the payment of taxes and patents amounts to 26 million per year. It is the ignorance of the texts which pushes some to express themselves against the persons in charge for the mine, if not it is written nowhere that the inhabitants must be only recruited by the mine.
Funded development projects
In addition to the recruitment of populations, the mine has invested between 2000 and 2021, 3.9 billion FCFA in the development of villages impacted by its activities. These achievements concern the health sector, education, road infrastructure, basic water supply, hydroelectricity, agro-business, poultry farming, the construction of an artificial lake on an area of 2 hectares with a storage capacity of 1.5 million liters of water, where fry are constantly poured to develop fishing.
The financing of programs to fight against HIV and income-generating activities allowing the construction of multifunctional centers etc. "It's the mine that replaced the state in this part of Mali," says Sayon Kamissoko, member of community development, adding that these amounts have nothing to do with the 300 million FCFA that the mine pays each year to the town hall of Sanso. And these achievements of the mine in community development are unanimous among elected officials and populations. "Most of the development infrastructure has been achieved thanks to the mine", recognizes the mayor of Domba, whose municipality is home to some satellite mines.
These achievements of the mine in community development are unanimous among elected officials and populations.
The morila gold mine extends over 1,250 ha in the commune of Sanso and Domba, in the new administrative region of Bougouni, 280 km south-east of Bamako. It plays a major role in the economic development of the area.
Ousmane Sagara
Morila SA Mine: A mine that meets the expectations of the populations in its operating areas
Firefinch Ltd is an ASX-listed gold miner and lithium developer with two outstanding assets in Mali – the Morila Gold Mine and the Goulamina Lithium Project.
MORILA is one of the world's great open pit gold mines, having produced over 7.5Moz of gold since 2000 at grades that were among the highest in the world, earning it the moniker “Morila the Gorilla”.Firefinch acquired Morila in late 2020 with the strategic intent to rapidly increase production;targeting150-200kozpa of gold. Morila's current Global Resource is 2.5 million ounces of gold, however, Morila's geological limit shave not been tested. Exploration is therefore a major focus on the 620k㎡ of surrounding tenure.
GOULAMINA is one of the world's largest undeveloped high quality spodumene deposits. In partnership with Ganfeng, Goulamina will be brought into production. A 50/50 in corporated joint venture has been established, with Ganfeng contributing up to US$194million in funding. Goulamina as a long life, large scale and low-cost open pit project expected to produce 726,000tons of spodumene concentrate at an attractive average cash cost of US$312/t.Goulamina has high grade, low impurity Ore Reserve of 52Mt at 1.51% Li ,O.The Company is in the process of demerging Goulamina into a new ASX listed entity, Leo Lithium.
FIREFINCH is a responsible miner. We support positive social and economic change through contributing to the communities in which we operate. We seek to buy local, employ local and back local socio-economic initiatives, whilst operating in a manner that safeguards the environment and places our team's safety and wellbeing as our first priority.
The Morila mine, which was scheduled to close in 2020 and 2021 to be transformed into an agribusiness center, has finally found a new investor, FIREFINCH, which took over operations after the departure of Barrick.
Contrary to allegations of discrimination in the recruitment process of people from the villages impacted by the mining activities, the new company has put forward the employment of local youth.
According to the mine's workforce report, 29% of the 1,707 employees are from the local communities of Morila, Finkolo, Sanso and Domba. These figures do not take into account the number of people employed by the The micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and day laborers with whom the mine subcontracts certain activities,” explains the human resources manager Mamadou Traoré.
The micro and small enterprises (MSEs) also employ hundreds of people. To confirm this thesis, investigative journalists, accompanied by the mine's community development department, visited the company and the villages impacted by mining activities to witness the situation.
In an interview, Drissa Arama, the mine's general manager, said that the expectations of the community living near the mine have increased since the reopening of the mine by Firefinch, but that time is the best judge.
''Our policy is that the local people should get the maximum benefit from the gold mining activity. We have developed a community recruitment program and also developed community development projects in the areas of health, education, agriculture, livestock, art and culture so that the community can benefit from this activity. We are developing training programs for youth in the community, with four of the eight trainees already ready to drive heavy equipment. The Morila mine has built classrooms, health centers and boreholes in several localities affected by the mine's activities and contributes more than 500 million CFA francs per year, divided between the region and the circle, including more than 300 million CFA francs in the directly affected communes .
The involvement of the administration in the mine's activities
According to the administrative authorities, the administration is heavily involved in all the activities of the mine, and that recruitment at the local level is done legally.
Traoré Fatou Traoré, sub-prefect of Sanso
There is good collaboration between the mine and the Sanso administration. The administration is heavily involved in all the activities of the Morila SA mine, because the administration is here to provide advisory support and to monitor legality. “There are four villages affected by the mining activity: Morila, Domba, Sanso and Fingola. In all these localities, there are Local Development Committees (LDCs) and funds to be managed under the watchful eye of the administration. With regard to recruitment, the mine recruits more than 100% from the community for unskilled labor, but the recruitment of skilled labor concerns all Malians whose community is privileged in case of equal competence.
Teneman DIARRA, Mayor of Wola
You arrived this morning unexpectedly, but you found us all together in a meeting: the elected officials, the administration and the mine workers. So the collaboration is frank. The mine does nothing without consulting us. Thanks to the mine, we have built a school, a maternity hospital, a dispensary with a pharmacy, and a well. The contribution of the mine to the payment of taxes and patents amounts to 26 million per year. It is the lack of knowledge of the texts that leads some people to protest against the mine officials, otherwise it is not written anywhere that only the inhabitants must be recruited by the mine.
Kadidia Samake
Gw
