Modern Mining August 2017

MINING News

Arcadia’s resource base increases

ASX-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

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. 

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An Atlas Copco CS14 core drilling rig at work at Arcadia (photo: Prospect Resources).

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. 

“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

Fax: +27 (0)11 383 9305 email: winder@winder.co.za

August 2017  MODERN MINING  11