Modern Mining January 2015

14 / 82

12 MODERN MININGJanuary 2015
MINING News
Lucapa Diamond Company, listed on the
ASX, says that the mining of alluvial dia-
monds at its Lulo diamond concession in
Angola will start this month (January).
This follows the recent announcement
that Lucapa and its fellow project share-
holders had signed a comprehensive
mining agreement providing them with a
35-year licence to mine alluvial diamonds
at Lulo. The licence covers a 218 km2 area
where Lucapa has been recovering allu-
vial diamonds of exceptional size, colour,
quality and value from its bulk sampling
activities.
As part of the diamond mining prepa-
rations, Lucapa is evaluating various debt
Lucapa kicks off at Lulo diamond concession in Angola
financing options to fund the following
Phase 1 optimisation and technology
improvements:
 A 150 t/h treatment plant – modifying
the receiving module into a full wet
front end to allow for wet gravel recep-
tion during the heavy rainfall months;
 Recovery plant – investment in new
X-ray transmissive technology to opti-
mise recovery of low luminescent Type
IIa diamonds, which bulk sampling
results have proven are a significant
portion of the diamond population; and
 Working capital – Phase 1 mining
throughput will be increased monthly
to 14 000 bulk cubic metres per month
Bulk sampling operations at Lulo.
within H1 2015 and working capital for
this ramp-up period is required. The
working capital requirement will be
supplemented with the sale of a third
parcel of diamonds during Q1 2015.
Lucapa’s new Chief Executive Officer,
StephenWetherall, said the plant efficiency
improvements and technology investment
would enable Lulo to meet its Phase 1 min-
ing throughput target of 14 000 bcm per
month before the end of H1 2015.
Thereafter, a second phase capacity
increase, through the sourcing of addi-
tional earthmoving equipment and in field
screening units, will see mining activities
ramping up to supply gravels for a tar-
geted plant throughout rate of 40 000 bcm
per month.
Wetherall noted that mining under
Phase 1 would focus on select areas within
the mining licence area that produced
higher grades during the alluvial bulk sam-
pling programmes.
“The pits we have bulk sampled to date
have delivered an overall average grade of
just under 11 carats per 100 m 3,”he stated.
“However, as is the nature of an alluvial
resource versus that of an open-pit hard
rock mine, we are able to more easily
adapt our mine plan to target specific
high grade areas without compromising
future mining. If we were to target areas
that produced bulk sample grades greater
than 5 carats per 100 m3, our average sam-
pled grade increases to around 15 carats
per 100 m3. These higher grade resource
areas will be the focus of our Phase 1
mine plan.” 
Tiger Resources to postpone Kipoi expansion
In an update on its operations at the Kipoi
copper project in Katanga in the DRC,
Australian miner Tiger Resources says that
the ramp-up of the solvent extraction and
electrowinning (SX/EW) plant at Kipoi
has been successfully completed and the
operation continues to achieve name-
plate production at an annualised rate of
25 000 t/a.
While the Kipoi Phase 2 expansion to
50 000 t/a continues to represent a low-
risk, low capital intensity growth option
with attractive returns, Tiger says it consid-
ers it prudent to postpone the expansion
until the forecast balance sheet ratios
comfortably support the required capital
expenditure profile.
Postponement of the expansion will
enhance balance sheet strength as net cash
flow from the existing 25 000 t/a produc-
tion will reduce the level of net debt, says
Tiger. In addition to the deferral of capital
expenditure associated with the expansion,
the current SX/EW operations will continue
to process ore from existing stockpiles at
Kipoi, thereby extending the period before
recommencing mining activities.
Tiger is reviewing term sheets for long-
term financing arrangements with the aim
of restructuring existing debt with longer-
dated facilities. This will include refinancing
the Taurus bridge facility which is due for
repayment in mid-October 2015. The com-
pany is confident that this process is on
track for completion during the first half of
2015. Following the refinancing, Tiger will
re-evaluate the development timeline for
the Kipoi Phase 2 expansion. 