TIDMWTI
RNS Number : 8476W
Weatherly International PLC
07 February 2012
Weatherly International Plc
Tschudi Feasibility Study - Progress Report
Weatherly International Plc ("Weatherly" or "the Company") is
pleased to present a Progress Report on the Tschudi Feasibility
Study.
Highlights
-- Total Resource increased 5% to 50.1mt at 0.86% copper (up from 47.7mt at 0.85% copper)
-- Contains a maiden open pit reserve of 22.2mt at 0.87% copper
-- Reserves support an 11 year life of mine producing 15kt copper per annum
-- Feasibility due for completion in mid-2012
Rod Webster, CEO of Weatherly, commented:
"The progress being made on the Tschudi Feasibility Study
demonstrates that the project is progressing as we had envisaged,
albeit with some important enhancements. The fundamentals of the
project are very good and we look forward to the prospect of adding
an additional mine to our portfolio."
Background
The Tschudi project comprises the development, mining and
processing of an oxide, transitional and sulphide copper deposit on
the granted mining license ML125 near the town of Tsumeb in
northern Namibia. The operations will utilise an open-cut mining
method and a solvent extraction ("SX") electro winning ("EW")
processing route. This processing route will result in the
operations producing an LME grade copper cathode on site in
Namibia.
Key Data
Resources (JORC) 50.1mt @ 0.86% Cu (0.3% cut
off)
========================= =============================
Open Pit reserve (JORC) 22.2mt @ 0.87% Cu (0.3% cut
to 198m off)
Copper contained 194,030t
========================= =============================
Annual Mining Rate 7m BCM / 2-2.7mt of ore
========================= =============================
Overall Mining Cost US$ 2.60/t ore plus waste
US$ 22.36/t ore processed
========================= =============================
Mine Life 11 years
========================= =============================
Design Capacity 15ktpa copper cathode
========================= =============================
Copper Recovered (LOM) 161,944t
========================= =============================
Cash Costs (ave. LOM) US$4380/t copper*
========================= =============================
Mining Licence Granted (ML125)
========================= =============================
Environmental Approval Granted in 2003 - subject to
variation
========================= =============================
Social Impact Over 500 new jobs in Namibia
========================= =============================
* The pit optimisation is price dependent and any resulting
operating cost is subject to change.
Capital costs will be available as soon as detailed design work
is completed and quantities estimated.
Details of the Proposed Operations
Revised Resource and Maiden Reserve Statement
An updated resource statement has been released by our
geological consultants, Coffey Mining in Perth. The resource has
seen an increase of 5% on the last statement released in 2009 to a
measured, indicated and inferred resource of 50.1 million tonnes at
0.86% copper (using a 0.3% cut off), representing 431 kt of copper
metal.
Pit optimisation using a copper price of US$7500/t has resulted
in a final pit designed to a depth of 198m. The life of mine
reserve is 22.2mt of ore grading 0.87% copper and containing 193kt
of copper. Of this, 162kt tonnes of copper will be recovered by the
leaching process.
Mineral Resource Estimate and Classification for 2012
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Tonnage (kt) Cu Grade (%) Cu Content
(kt)
-------------------------------- ------------- ------------- -----------
Resource - Measured, Indicated
and Inferred 50,075 0.86 431
-------------------------------- ------------- ------------- -----------
Reserve - Probable 22,200 0.87 194
-------------------------------- ------------- ------------- -----------
Mineral Resource Estimate and Classification for 2009
Category Tonnage (kt) Cu Grade (%) Cu Content
(kt)
-------------------------------- ------------- ------------- -----------
Resource - Measured, Indicated
and Inferred 47,718 0.85 401
-------------------------------- ------------- ------------- -----------
Mine Schedule
Coffey Mining has produced a mine schedule based on 3 interim
pits prior to the final cutback in year 8. The life of the mine is
11 years although further cutbacks may be justified at higher
copper prices. The average annual mining rate is 7 million bcm per
year yielding between 2mt to 2.7mt of ore. The schedule has been
designed to maintain production of 15kt of copper cathode per
year.
Metallurgical Process
From a processing perspective, 25% of the ore has been
designated as 'mixed' containing both oxides (malachite and
azurite) and secondary sulphides. The remaining 75% is designated
as 'fresh' containing mostly secondary sulphides (covellite and
chalcocite) and non leachable sulphides. Mineralisation extends
into the dolomitic footwall, but for the purposes of the
feasibility study, only the copper ore hosted in sandstone has been
included in the stated reserves.
It was determined in the feasibility study that the most
economic metallurgical route was heap leach, solvent extraction and
electro winning. The ore is crushed to 9mm and stacked with
agglomerated fines onto pads of between 4-6m high depending on the
blend of ore types. The pads are irrigated with dilute sulphuric
acid which percolates through the pads leaching out the copper. The
resulting pregnant solution is collected and upgraded via the
solvent extraction plant to a clean electrolyte suitable for
electro winning.
The electro winning process uses electrolysis to plate the
copper element from the electrolyte onto stainless steel cathodes.
The copper is then stripped from the cathode, bundled and packed
for sale.
The processing infrastructure (heap leach pads, SX-EW plant) has
been designed to achieve an output capacity of 15,000 tonnes per
annum of copper metal in cathode. The cash cost of production has
been estimated at US$4380 /t of copper over the life of the
project.
Infrastructure
The project is well located in that it is only 26 road
kilometres from the northern town of Tsumeb (population: 15,000).
Site infrastructure will be minimal given adequate water from bores
adjacent to the pit and the proximity (13 km) from the main
Nampower substation. The town of Tsumeb provides most services
including accommodation, light engineering, rail and air transport.
More importantly, the smelter (owned by Dundee Precious Metals) is
planning to build an acid plant for environmental reasons and is
currently seeking interest from potential acid users.
Programme to Production
An indicative timeline for the project is:
-- Completion of the Feasibility study mid 2012
-- Finalisation of the funding, appointment of Engineer, initial
design and procurement of long lead time items by end of 2012
-- Construction is scheduled to commence in 2013
-- First copper cathode production is scheduled for 2014
Further Information
A more detailed and illustrated summary of the project is
available on Weatherly's website in its most recent Indaba investor
presentation.
Competent Person's Statement
Ms Kathleen Body and Mr Harry Warries, are consultants at Coffey
Mining, and have reviewed and approved the technical information
regarding the reporting of mineral resources and ore reserves
contained within this announcement in their capacity as qualified
persons, as required under the AIM rules. Both Mr Warries and Mr
Goldschmidt qualify as a "Competent Person" as defined in the JORC
Code.
About Weatherly
Weatherly is an AIM listed, copper focused mining company, the
principal assets of which are located in Namibia. It currently has
two producing copper mines (Otjihase and Matchless), and is
progressing feasibility studies on projects which will enable
Weatherly to achieve its medium term strategy of establishing a
copper mining business capable of sustaining approximately
20,000tpa of copper at an average industry cost of production for
at least ten years.
The Company also has a 25% stake in an AIM listed company, China
Africa Resources Plc (CAF), which is currently focused on the
development of the lead/zinc project at Berg Aukas in Northern
Namibia.
For further information please contact:
Weatherly International Plc +44 (0) 20 7917 2989
Rod Webster, Chief Executive Officer
Dean Friday, Investor Relations
Collins Stewart Europe Limited +44 (0) 20 7523 8350
John Prior, Sebastian Jones
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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