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August 2017
MODERN MINING
11
MINING News
Fax: +27 (0)11 383 9305 email: winder@winder.co.za HOISTING SOLUTIONS Tel: +27 (0)11 383 9300 Winder Controls is a leader in the mechanical, electrical and hydraulic design, manufacture and installa- tion of mine winders and related equipment. Our designs comply with the latest international safety and reliability standards including SIL assessments where applicable. Our services include relocations, refur- bishment and upgrades, as well as full aftersales and maintenance support. In addition we offer a range of special products including steel wire rope handling equipment, Three Chamber Energy recovery systems and Nuclear Waste Disposal Technology. www.winder.co.zaASX-listed Prospect Resources has
announced a further increase in the
mineral resource estimate at its flagship
Arcadia lithium deposit in Zimbabwe to
66,6 Mt at 1,13% Li
2
O (0,2 % Li
2
O cut off ).
Of importance, says the company, is the
significant conversion of inferred resources
into indicated and measured categories
based on infill drilling completed in the
last quarter.
This increase in confidence in the min-
eral resource classification can now allow
further optimisation of the pit inventory
and ore reserves that were declared as
part of the PFS study completed by the
company in July.
According to Prospect, the resource
upgrade at Arcadia confirms its status as
the largest JORC Code reported resource
of its type in Africa and the fifth largest
globally. It comprises 755 000 tonnes of
contained lithium oxide, equating to over
“The existing infrastructure con-
straints at Blanket are temporary and are
expected to be fully alleviated when the
new Central Shaft is commissioned in the
second half of 2018. I am pleased to say
that work on the Central Shaft remains
on track.
“In the meantime, management
has implemented further measures to
address the short-term infrastructure
constraints. We are optimistic that these
measures will result in a higher quarterly
production in the remaining quarters of
2017 and we are confident that we will
achieve the revised production guidance
for 2017 of between 52 000 and 57 000
ounces of gold.”
Following the implementation of
indigenisation in Zimbabwe, Caledonia’s
primary asset is a 49 % interest in the
Blanket mine, located in the south-west
of Zimbabwe approximately 15 km
west of Gwanda, the provincial capital
of Matabeleland South. The company’s
shares are listed in Canada on the Toronto
Stock Exchange and on London’s AIM.
Arcadia’s resource base increases
An Atlas Copco CS14 core drilling rig at work at Arcadia (photo: Prospect Resources).
1 850 000 tonnes contained lithium car-
bonate equivalent (LCE).
The project is located approximately
38 km east of Harare. It occupies an area of
more than 9 km
2
of granted mining rights
and consists of several historical lithium
and beryl workings within an existing agri-
cultural area.
Arcadia’s probable ore reserves form the
basis of a standalone 1,2 Mt/a mining and
processing operation over a 15-year Life
of Mine (LOM). The PFS further examined
a mine plan, which includes a pit inven-
tory of probable ore reserves and inferred
mineral resources within the pit outlines,
giving a pit inventory of 23 Mt at 1,34 %
Li
2
O and 124 ppm Ta
2
O
5
, a LOM of 20 years
and an average strip ratio of 2,79 to 1.
According to the PFS, the project
has a 39 % IRR and a pre-tax NPV
10
of
US$139 million. The estimated capex is
US$52,5 million.