SRK was commissioned by a Chinese company to review a copper project located in East Africa. The objectives of the review were to use the data provided to analyse and provide summaries of the results for the client, and comment on any material flaws detected in the project.
The SRK team visited the project site in 2009, reviewed the materials and held discussions with the current owner.
The property holds licences within a substantial mining agreement area. The mineralisation on site is typical of a volcanic massive sulphide deposit comprising a precious metal-rich oxide zone overlying massive sulphide lenses containing copper and zinc. The East African nation has shown strong support for the project, and will participate in a net smelter royalty of 5.0% on precious metals and 3.5% on other metals.
A NI43-101 technical report on the project’s feasibility was completed and a South African engineering firm updated the process plant design and estimates for capital and operating costs.
The deposit has been subdivided and regrouped into 3 zones as oxide, supergene and primary. A three-dimensional geological model was prepared to outline the mineralised domains. SRK recalculated the resource and confirmed the company’s estimates.
SRK investigated the mining methods, mining phases, processing for three ore types by cyanidation and by flotation, the design of the waste dumps and the disposition of acid-generating rocks to build the interception dyke, and the non-acid generating rocks to build the tailings dam and mine.
SRK concluded preliminarily that additional geological exploration is recommended to upgrade resources to higher categories and to define more resources at depth so as to possibly expand mine life. In terms of the processing aspects, SRK recommends further metallurgical test work be conducted in order to determine feasible grinding size, reagent scheme and related operational parameters.
Diesel generators will be rented for two years to supply power; then, heavy fuel oil generators will be purchased. Water will be supplied by fresh water wells. Concentrates will be trucked to the nearest port.
Overall, the project complies with local/national environmental legislative requirements and conforms with World Bank/International Finance Corporation environmental standards.
