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MODERN MINING
April 2015
MINING News
Mineral resource exceeds target at Mahumo
ASX-listed MOD Resources has announced
a high grade mineral resource of 2,68 Mt
at 2 % Cu and 50 g/t Ag (at a 1 % cut-off )
for Stage One of its 100 %-owned Mahumo
copper/silver project in Botswana. The
tonnes and grade are well above MOD’s tar-
get of 2 Mt at 1,8 % Cu and 45 g/t Ag.
The resource has a copper equivalent
grade of approximately 2,5 % – which MOD
understands is the highest announced
grade for any copper/silver deposit in
Botswana. It adds that the silver grade is
approximately three times the average sil-
ver grade of other announced resources in
the Kalahari Copperbelt.
Due to the high grades at Mahumo, MOD
is now proceeding with a scoping study to
evaluate a range of options for potential
mining and ore processing at Mahumo.
Metallurgical test work has already com-
menced to validate preliminary results
announced on 29 September 2014. The
scoping study is due for completion in the
June quarter.
“The Stage One mineral resource at
Mahumo has exceeded our expectations,”
comments Julian Hanna, MD of MOD
Resources. “Importantly, the high copper
and silver grades are continuous from near
surface to the deepest intersections in drill-
ing completed to date. Mahumo remains
open ended below the current resource
and it appears that further drilling may
result in a significant increase in the size of
the resource.”
ASX-listed Cradle Resources has announced
the results of a Preliminary Feasibility Study
(PFS) for the Panda Hill niobium project in
south-western Tanzania.
Grant Davey, the MD of Cradle, com-
mented: “We are very pleased with the
results of the PFS, which demonstrate a
highly economic, world class project. The
PFS substantially de-risks the project fol-
Tsodilo Resources is completing a dia-
mond core drilling programme of 15 holes
to a cumulative depth of 2 621 m on both
the main and satellite bodies at its BK16
kimberlite project located within the
Orapa Kimberlite Field (OKF) in Botswana
Tsodilo acquires mobile DMS plant for BK16 sampling
The 10 t/h DMS plant acquired by Tsodilo
Resources for the BK16 project.
in order to develop an advanced geologi-
cal model.
In anticipation of the bulk sampling
programme which is scheduled to start
during the second half of this year, the
company has purchased a DMS mobile
plant from De Beers Botswana. The plant
is capable of handling a 10 t/h head feed
throughput and was used in the evalu-
ation of AK6 (Karowe diamond mine)
owned by Lucara Diamond Corp. It is set
up and located just outside Lethlakane vil-
lage approximately 15 km directly WNW
from the BK16 pipe.
The plant includes primary and second-
ary crushers (cone and jaw), de-sliming
screens, conveyors, a scrubber with 12 mm
trommel screen, a DMS preparation screen
and a DMS cyclone (250 mm/57 mm). It is
equipped with a laboratory, security office
and concentrate storage units.
Tsodilo intends to spend some time
refurbishing the plant in order to start
treatment of the diamondiferous BK16
kimberlite during Phase 1 of the evaluation
programme towards the end of this year.
Using very conservative estimated grades,
the company intends to extract and treat
some 3 500 tons in order to recover in
excess of 200 carats during the evaluation
programme.
“Tsodilo continues to advance its proj-
ects in an expedient and cost effective
fashion by utilising its company-owned
drill rigs, geophysical equipment and now
the DMS processing plant. This allows us
to evaluate the potential of our projects
in a fast and cost effective fashion which is
crucial at any time but especially in today’s
economic environment. The outlook for
diamonds is very positive and we want
to move BK16 along as fast as we can,”
says Tsodilo’s Chairman and CEO, James
M Bruchs.
PFS demonstrates a “world class”niobium project
lowing on from excellent results achieved
with the resource drilling and the metal-
lurgical test work last year. We focused the
study on a higher grade mining schedule
that delivers the optimal early cash flow for
the project. With the Definitive Feasibility
Study already underway, and an updated
mineral resource due out shortly, we are
well advanced in ensuring that Panda Hill
will be the next niobium producer.”
The PFS was prepared by MDM
Engineering Projects (MDM) who also
undertook plant design and cost estimates.
It incorporates technical aspects from
Coffey Mining for the mineral resource esti-
mate, SRK Consulting (Australasia) for the
geotechnical analysis and mine planning,
SGS Canada Inc for metallurgical test work,
SLR Consulting (Africa) for tailings andwater
studies and MTL Consulting Company Ltd
for environmental and social studies.
The ‘Base Case’ for the PFS is centred
upon an open-pit mining operation pro-
viding 2 Mt/a mill feed over a 30-year life of
mine (LOM). This is the same scale of oper-
ation that was considered in the Scoping
Study and is the current size of Magris
Resources’ Niobec operation in Canada,
thus allowing useful comparative analysis.
With the success achieved in the PFS
in both mill feed grade and metallurgical
recoveries, the initial ferroniobiumproduc-
tion from a 2 Mt/a plant now approximates
8 to 10 % of world production. For this
reason, and to simplify financing arrange-
ments, the Definitive Feasibility Study will
be scoped so as to achieve a more modest
entry into the market (i.e. throughput com-
mencing at 1 Mt/a).