Modern Mining September 2018

COUNTRY FOCUS: MOZAMBIQUE

Above: Tailings Storage Facility of Battery Minerals’ Montepuez project under construction. It is due for completion in October (photo: Battery Minerals). Right: The nearly complete permanent camp at the Montepuez project (photo: Battery Minerals).

Value Engineering Study (VES) with the inten- tion of improving the metrics of the project, a particular goal being to reduce the capex. The study was commissioned in May last year and its results were published in October. The VES concluded that both the capex and the operating costs could be reduced substan- tially by – amongst other things – adopting a phased development approach (which would see a lower initial production rate), by refining the mine plan to produce a higher head grade and by optimising the plant through modulari- sation. The VES also indicated that moving to an owner-operator mining and accommodation model and reducing the size of the initial infra- structure ‘footprint’ would also enhance the economics of the project. Based on the recommendations of the VES, Battery Minerals is now proceeding with the Stage 1 development of Montepuez. This will

€12 million in the rehabilitation and expansion of the mine, with the processing plant having a capacity of 9 000 t/a. He said the mine was already employing 100 people, most of them from surrounding villages. The next graphite mine to follow Balama and Ancuabe into production could well be the Montepuez project of ASX-listed Battery Minerals. This will be a considerably smaller operation than Balama. The Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) on the project, released in February last year, envisaged an annual production of 100 000 t/a of concentrate with the pre-production capex being estimated at US$126 million and the payback period at 4,75 years. The operating cost was estimated at US$337/t. While these figures were not unattractive, Battery Minerals – which used to be known as Metals of Africa – decided to undertake a

28  MODERN MINING  September 2018