Taparko was the first gold mine built in Burkina Faso: mining began in 2005 and the first gold pour took place late in 2007. The mine is a multi-pit operation, with the pits being up to 90km apart from each other.
A two-year mining contract was awarded to Moolmans by Somita SA in early 2016. The scope of work consists of load and haul and production drilling. In addition to this scope, Moolmans also conducts the drilling operations to support the client-owned load and haul fleet. As the contract progressed, the drilling metres increased, which necessitated an additional four Sandvik DK25S DTH drill rigs to be mobilised to Taparko in February 2017. These were the first DK25S drills introduced into Burkina Faso.