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MODERN MINING
October 2016
MINING News
ASX-listed Avenira Limited reports it has
achieved another important milestone at
its 80 %-owned Baobab phosphate project
in Senegal with the first trucking of phos-
phate product to the stockpile at the Port
of Dakar.
Avenira’s strategy to develop the proj-
ect is based on an initial, US$15 million,
Stage 1 operation producing 500 000
tonnes per annum of phosphate product,
with later stages allowing for production
expansion. Maiden shipping of product is
currently planned for the fourth calendar
quarter of 2016.
Avenira’s Managing Director, Cliff
Lawrenson, commented: ‘‘The Baobab
phosphate project continues to progress
steadily and it is excellent to see the first
trucking of phosphate product to the
stockpile at the Port of Dakar, some 145 km
from the mine site. The project is nowmov-
ing into operational stage with appropriate
procedures and protocols in place.
“As expected, the annual wet sea-
son slowed processing and drying of the
phosphate product and initial trucking
operations. However, wet conditions are
now easing allowing for more routine
operations with first shipping our priority.
We thank the whole Avenira team for their
commitment in reaching this important
milestone.”
Baobab employs straightforward open-
pit mining to access the mineralisation
through the unconsolidated sand over-
burden. The processing plant is similarly
effective, employing a simple wet-screen-
ing process to beneficiate to final product.
Baobab ships its first phosphate product
Open-pit mining at the Baobab phosphate project (photo: Avenira).
The product drying area at Baobab (photo: Avenira).
A mining contract was signed with
a Senegalese contractor, Agromines, in
December 2015. The contract was struc-
tured to allow continuation of mining
after the Stage 1 open pit, allowing opera-
tions to be continuous once pre-stripping
commenced.
Mobilisation of the mining fleet to
the Baobab site was undertaken through
January and February 2016, with pre-strip-
ping commencing for the Stage 1 open pit
in March. The first phosphate horizon was
uncovered in July 2016 and the first phos-
phate was mined at the end of August.
Mining of the phosphate mineralisation
demonstrated that efficient grade control
can be achieved visually during daylight
hours, with the mining geology team
trained to supervise phosphate mining.
Design and engineering for the pro-
cessing facility was developed with South