COUNTRY IN FOCUS
SENEGAL:
THE BIRIMIAN’S
LAST OUTPOST
With security in other West African states a growing concern, it might be
a good idea for exploration geologists to have a closer look at Senegal,
writes Leon Louw.
A
t one of his annual midday lunch briefings almost
a decade ago, Mark Bristow, then CEO of Randgold
Resources, told a group of journalists that one
of Africa’s highest-grade open pit gold deposits would
be discovered in Senegal. He knew then, of course, that
Randgold’s exceptional team of geologists had already
stumbled upon Massawa in the east of Senegal.
Bristow never took Massawa all the way into production, as he
has done with each one of the other remote African discoveries
he made. Instead, he gave TSX listed Teranga Gold the
opportunity to do that 10 years later when he was appointed
president and CEO of the second largest gold company in the
world, Canadian-headquartered Barrick Gold.
22
African Mining February 2020
Barrick merged with Randgold in January 2019 and gained
access to an impressive list of high-grade gold assets in
West Africa, including Massawa. At the end of 2019, Bristow
announced that Teranga had acquired 90% of Massawa, with
the government of Senegal holding the remaining 10%.
Bristow, who knows a good gold deposit when he sees one, did
not lose complete interest in Massawa though, or in Senegal,
for that matter. Barrick retained 11.45% of Teranga and is
currently the second biggest shareholder in the company.
Besides being a top geologist, Bristow has an astute business
brain, and the synergies between Massawa and Teranga’s
flagship operation down the road at Sabodala was just too
good to resist.
www. africanmining.co.za