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MODERN MINING
August 2016
MINING News
Aftan plans upgrade of Tantalite Valley plant
A IM- l i s ted Kennedy Ven t u re s ha s
announced a conditional placing to raise
£2,0 million before expenses. The net pro-
ceeds of the placing will be used by African
Tantalum (Aftan), Kennedy Ventures’
investee company, to upgrade and expand
Aftan’s current plant at the Tantalite Valley
Mine (TVM) in Namibia and open up the
lepidolite orebody.
Kennedy Ventures says its operational
cashflow has been constrained since Aftan
reopened TVM and recommissioned the
existing processing plant at the end of 2015.
This is due to irregular mine grades and an
unexpectedly high proportion of fine tanta-
lite as mining moved through the orebody.
Additionally, TVM has encountered signifi-
cant amounts of lithium-bearing ores that
the existing plant is not currently configured
to recover. The work programme is designed
to address these issues as well as signifi-
cantly enhance the productivity of TVM.
Once the work programme has been
implemented, TVMwill target a throughput
of 15 000 tonnes per month (the previous
target was 10 500 tonnes) and an output
of 15 tonnes of tantalite concentrate. It is
anticipated that all the increased product
volume will be supplied to Aftan’s offtake
partner under the existing agreement.
Reporting on its activities during Q2 2016,
ASX-listed Syrah Resources says that
US$22,9 million was spent on the Balama
graphite project inMozambique, increasing
total project development expenditures
to US$47,1million as at 30 June 2016. An
additional US$60 million in development
expenditures has been committed, which
brings total actual and committed capital
expenditures to US$107 million, against a
revised capital cost estimate of US$175mil-
lion for the project.
According to Syrah, development
Balama well into the construction phase
activities at Balama continue to progress
well with the detailed engineering and
design on schedule for completion this
month (August). Major procurement activ-
ities are now complete with mechanical
equipment and structural steel deliveries
to Balama having begun. Regular visits
to key equipment and material suppliers
are being conducted to ensure that deliv-
ery dates and quality standards are being
maintained.
Notices of Award have been issued
for the major construction contract
(Structural, Mechanical and Piping (SMP))
and various operational contracts (includ-
ing mining, transport and logistics, fuel
supply and laboratory services).
Sealing of the 7 km access road is
complete and work is progressing on
the construction of the internal plant
site roads. Process plant and infrastruc-
ture concrete works are well advanced
with approximately 3 400 m
3
of concrete
poured in all major areas (ore bin, primary
crushing facility, primary mill and flotation
circuit) during the quarter.
Clearing for the construction of the
Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) is substan-
tially complete and construction of the
facility has begun.
There has been a substantial ramp
up of key personnel with approximately
830 direct staff and contractors currently
working on site. Ongoing recruitment of
qualified Mozambican nationals continues
to strengthen the team, says Syrah.
The site has now achieved over 1 mil-
lion hours worked without a Lost-Time
Injury.
The Balama project is situated in
Cabo Delgado Province in northern
Mozambique, some 200 km west of the
port town of Pemba. According to the
feasibility study on Balama, the project –
which will employ simple open-pit mining
– will have a production of over 350 kt/a.
A recent aerial view of the Balama project site (photo: Syrah Resources).