Construction is now over 90% complete and still in line with our schedule: The structural steel and mechanical installation are both complete; the fuel depot is over 90% complete; cladding for the gold room is almost finished; and the tailings pond is over 95% complete. Commissioning of the dry plant began at the end of February and is being powered by three of the four substations. At the end of the month, approximately 10% of the commissioning had been effected, specifically the crusher and water services.
The end of the month saw the first trucks of ore being hauled to the ROM pad. Some 77% or 14 million tonnes of the pre-stripping material has been extracted to date from the Boungou deposit.