Modern Mining September 2017

MINING News

De Beers launches Business Incubator in Limpopo

basis and will cover topics such as mar- ket research, financial management and operational management ultimately con- tributing towards a bankable business plan. One-on-one sessions with entrepre- neurs will assist mentors in evaluating their progress and providing meaningful coaching and support. Upon completion of the programme, the best and bright- est will be selected for the next phase of the programme which includes access to funding and further training and development. The incubation programme at Venetia mine follows that of Voorspoedmine in the Free State which launched in June and has supported 45 entrepreneurs to date. Leading up to the launch event, Gregory Petersen, Senior Commercial Manager Enterprise and Supplier Development for De Beers Consolidated Mines, said: “The mining sector has an important role to play in the socio-economic develop- ment of our region. By empowering and promoting small business, we hope to contribute towards economic growth and job creation.”  Research Institute for Mining and Metal­ lurgy (BGRIMM) in Beijing. A large-scale closed-circuit testwork campaign was undertaken by BGRIMM, which is one of China’s key research facilities and reportedly has world leading expertise in graphite extraction. The sample selected for the BGRIMM testwork was high-grade surface ore (32 % TGC), from the areawheremining is planned to commence. This sample was very similar to the Surface Composite Sample tested at Nagrom Laboratories in Perth in July 2016. After due allowance for fines recovery dif- ferences, the BGRIMM and Nagrom results are very similar. However, Walkabout has decided to moderate the life of mine ratios for Super Jumbo, Jumbo and Large flake sizes in order to mitigate potential process risk. The com- pany says the yield of +500 um flakes is still the highest in its peer group and points out that the fresh material makes up more than 80 % of the mining reserve. The DFS was based on an annual pro- duction of 40 000 tonnes of graphite concentrate with a high-grade feed to the plant of <300 000 tonnes per annum. 

De Beers has launched its second Business Incubator near its Venetia mine operation in Limpopo. The accelerated development programme aims to promote up-and- coming entrepreneurs, as well as small, medium and microenterprises from min- ing communities. The programme will be facilitated by the specialist monitoring and training

company TrioPlus and will provide support to 40 enterprises or entrepreneurs – 20 from each municipal area into two sepa- rate incubation programmes in Blouberg and Musina. The incubation programme kicked off in August with two workshops target- ing existing and aspiring entrepreneurs. Classroom training will run on a monthly

Participants in the De Beers Business Incubator with Venetia mine management and representatives of Blouberg Local Municipality.

Walkabout updates DFS on Lindi Jumbo graphite project A Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) by ASX- listed Walkabout Resources (WKT) for a proposed open-pit mine and graphite pro- cessing plant at its Lindi Jumbo graphite project in Tanzania was released to the ASX in February this year. Following the subse- quent Tanzanian legislative changes and further metallurgical testwork, WKT has released an update to the DFS. results; and a minor adjustment to the mod- elling payback schedule as per the updated funding plan. Project start-up capital has been reduced from US$38,7 million to US$29,6 million, a saving of US$9,1 million. The pre-tax NPV 10 is now US$302 million as against the previ- ous US$320 million while the pre-tax IRR has increased from 96 % to 108 %.

The weighted average (Base Case) bas- ket price of product is reduced to US$1 564 per tonne from US$1 687 per tonne as a result of a modified metallurgical product mix. Walkabout says detailed engineering and planning has progressed very well over the past six weeks and continues inYantai in China. Provisional approval for partial stage funding has been granted by the project funding partners, CNBMGeneral Machinery Co Ltd, and this allows Jinpeng Mining and Materials Co Ltd to proceed with engineer- ing design and project management. Final equipment selection has taken place following the completion of the optimisation test work at Beijing General

Walkabout says the Updated DFS has been modelled employing only the ore reserve published to the ASX in April 2017. This reserve contains proven and prob- able ore reserves of 5 Mt at 6,13 % TGC for 809 kt of graphite concentrate and com- prises 42 % of the measured and indicated resources only. The DFS has been updated with all available new information to date. In gen- eral, this is in four key areas: the effects of the Tanzanian amendments to the Mining Act 2010; an updated capital estimate pro- vided by Jinpeng Mining and Material Co Ltd as part of the contractual submissions for developing EPCM & F documentation; updated and more reliable metallurgical

10  MODERN MINING  September 2017