Modern Mining February 2018

MINING News

Cardinal completes PEA on Namdini

bility studies. Development capital costs range from US$275 million to US$426 million. In addition, consideration is being given to a phased approach to the development of Namdini, commencing with a 4,5 Mt/a throughput that would be designed for expansion to a higher throughput. Dependent upon the eventual produc- tion scenario chosen, average annual gold production ranges from 159 000 oz/a up to 330 000 oz/a at all-in sustaining costs from US$701/oz to US$794/oz. The target Life of Mine pit includes 91 Mt at 1,1 g/t for 3,3 Moz (81 %) of indicated mineral resources and 22 Mt at 1,1 g/t for 0,8 Moz (19 %) of inferred min- eral resources at a 0,5 g/t cut off using the September 2017 mineral resource esti- mate data. Value enhancement opportunities have been identified and will be considered by the technical team as part of the Pre- Feasibility Study that has now commenced. “Given the scope of detailed investiga- tions that have been performed leading up to the preparation of the Preliminary Economic Assessment, the outcomes present a strong case on both technical and economic grounds for proceeding to the development of our Namdini project in Ghana,” comments Archie Koimtsidis, MD and CEO of Cardinal. “Highly accredited global firms includ- ing Golder Associates, Lycopodium, Knight Piesold and Oreway Mineral Consultants were engaged to perform engineering and cost estimation for this study. They are all well-positioned to assist Cardinal through the next study and development phases of the Namdini project given their past and recent experience in consulting on successful project developments in West Africa.”  of their key coal assets in the Belfast area,” explains Alistair Hodgkinson, Senior Vice President at DRA. “This latest partnership allows DRA the opportunity to showcase our vast experience in successfully implementing large-scale coal projects and the added value we can offer our clients on any project.” Work on the project starts immedi- ately and is expected to be completed in October next year. 

The Namdini project is located in the far north of Ghana, well away from the traditional gold- producing areas in the south of the country.

Cardinal Resources, listed on the ASX and TSX, has announced the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of the Namdini gold project in Ghana, West Africa. According to Cardinal, the PEA confirms Namdini to be a technically and financially robust low-cost mining opportunity, with the potential to gener- ate strong positive cashflows. Development is based upon a large, single open pit with ore treatment in a

conventional SAG mill, flotation and CIL circuit. However, a higher-grade starter pit yielding more than 1 Moz of gold with a strip ratio of less than 0,9 has been identi- fied for which further optimisation will be performed in the next study phase. The PEA evaluated three production throughput rates of 4,5, 7,0 and 9,5 Mt/a and all resulted in strong returns. The preferred scale of development is to be selected following completion of feasi- stacker conveyor. The plant will produce both a domestic and an export product. “We are excited to partner once again with such a prestigious organisation. The quality of our engineering designs in the earlier project phases, as well as our competitive pricing and well-established reputation in coal projects, ultimately secured us the work when Exxaro embarked on a campaign to develop one

DRA secures contract for Belfast coal plant Global engineering firm DRA has secured a contract with Exxaro Coal Mpumalanga, a subsidiary of JSE-listed Exxaro Resources, to construct a 500 t/h coal handling and preparation plant in Belfast, Mpumalanga. The coal handling and preparation plant consists of primary and secondary sizing stations, an overland conveyor, two 7 500-t silos, lowgravity and high gravity DMSmod- ules, a thickener circuit, a filter plant and a

10  MODERN MINING  February 2018