TIDMWTI
RNS Number : 4760B
Weatherly International PLC
07 January 2015
7 January 2015
Update on Progress at Tschudi Copper Mine
Grid Power Connected and Plant Ahead of Schedule
Weatherly International Plc (AIM: WTI) today announces a trading
update on progress at its Tschudi copper mining project in
Namibia.
Chairman, John Bryant, said, "Tschudi is on track to commence
production in the second quarter of this year. I must congratulate
our UK and Namibia teams on the progress they have made." The
highlights are:
-- Mining
Mining at Tschudi has been underway since July 2014 and ore
continues to be stockpiled in readiness for the crushing plant to
come on line. Full details will be contained in the quarterly
production report.
-- Crushing/Agglomeration/Stacking
On Friday 19 December, 2,000 tonnes of ore were run through the
crushing and agglomeration plant as a pre-commissioning test with
the plant achieving the desired throughput rates. A second 2,500
tonnes were crushed and agglomerated on Friday 2(nd) January, this
time focussing on achieving the required agglomerate quality under
full throughput. This has resulted in some minor modifications that
are expected to be completed by the end of the week.
Leach Panels One and Two are close to completion and will be
ready to receive ore once the crushing plant is in operation. The
raw water and raffinate ponds have been completed and were filled
with water over the Christmas break. Work on the pregnant leach
solution pond is ongoing and is expected to be completed next
week.
-- Acid
On Wednesday 17 December, the first acid road tankers arrived
from the Rössing Uranium Mine and began unloading into the newly
commissioned acid storage tank, with approximately 650 tonnes
delivered.
Originally, acid was to be sourced from the adjacent Tsumeb
smelter, but construction of the smelter's acid plant has been
delayed. As an interim move, Weatherly has signed a one year
contract with Rössing Uranium to import acid through the port of
Walvis Bay. Imported prices are currently lower than those offered
by the smelter and, as a result, the contract (with Dundee Precious
Metals) is being renegotiated.
-- Electric Power
On Thursday 14 December, Nampower (the Namibian power utility)
signed off on the High Voltage installation, enabling the site to
switch to the main grid supply when read and, replacing the
temporary generating sets that have been used for much of the
commissioning work.
-- Workforce and Plant Commissioning
Recruitment of the Weatherly workforce is complete and operators
are currently undergoing training under the supervision of the
specialist commissioning group, PPM Global.
The commissioning plan has been agreed, with
crushed/agglomerated ore expected to be loaded onto the first panel
early in the month, and for irrigation with acid to begin a week
later, allowing the agglomerated ore sufficient time for
curing.
Commissioning of the SX-EW will commence as soon as there are
sufficient stocks of pregnant leach solution available at the
required grade.
-- Finance
The Company made its final payment under Tranche A of its loan
facility with Orion in December 2014. Tranche A related to the
original $7 million loaned by Louis Dreyfus to restart the
underground mines. The discharge of the loan means the underground
mines are now debt free going into 2015.
At the end of the year (2014), the Company had drawn down US$73
million of its US$80 million (Tranche B) facility with Orion. The
loan is expected to be fully drawn by the second quarter of 2015
with the first quarterly repayment (expected to be approximately
US$4.5 million) scheduled for November 30, 2015.
Chief Executive, Rod Webster, said:
"Progress on the Tschudi project has been impressive with large
sections of the plant commissioned in advance of the Christmas
break. We have made excellent progress with mining, our crushing
and processing plant, acid delivery and the connection to grid
electricity. We have completed the recruitment of our workforce and
the plan for commissioning our plant has been agreed. We are ahead
of schedule and looking forward to being in production in the
second quarter of 2015."
For further information please contact:
Weatherly International Plc +44 (0) 20 7917 2989
Rod Webster, CEO
Kevin Ellis, CFO & Company Secretary
RFC Ambrian Limited (Nominated Adviser & Broker) +44 (0) 20 3440 6800
Samantha Harrison
Finncap (Joint Broker) +44(0)207 220 0514
Joanna Weaving
Blytheweigh (Financial PR/IR) +44(0)2071383204
Tim Blythe
Halimah Hussain
About Weatherly
Weatherly is an AIM listed copper mining company operating in
Namibia in southern Africa. Its principal assets are two
underground copper mines, Otjihase and Matchless, and a larger open
pit development called Tschudi scheduled to come on stream in the
second quarter of calendar year 2015.
These assets will enable Weatherly to achieve its medium term
goal of establishing a mining business capable of sustaining
approximately 25,000 tonnes per annum of copper production.
The Company also has a 25% stake in the AIM listed company,
China Africa Resources Plc (CAF), which is developing a lead/zinc
mine called Berg Aukas also in Namibia.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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