Modern Mining January 2015

MINING News

Lucapa kicks off at Lulo diamond concession in Angola

Bulk sampling operations at Lulo.

Lucapa Diamond Company, listed on the ASX, says that the mining of alluvial dia- monds at its Lulo diamond concession in Angola will start this month (January). This follows the recent announcement that Lucapa and its fellow project share- holders had signed a comprehensive mining agreement providing them with a 35-year licence to mine alluvial diamonds at Lulo. The licence covers a 218 km 2 area where Lucapa has been recovering allu- vial diamonds of exceptional size, colour, quality and value from its bulk sampling activities. As part of the diamond mining prepa- rations, Lucapa is evaluating various debt

financing options to fund the following Phase 1 optimisation and technology improvements:  A 150 t/h treatment plant – modifying the receiving module into a full wet front end to allow for wet gravel recep- tion during the heavy rainfall months;  Recovery plant – investment in new X-ray transmissive technology to opti- mise recovery of low luminescent Type IIa diamonds, which bulk sampling results have proven are a significant portion of the diamond population; and  Working capital – Phase 1 mining throughput will be increased monthly to 14 000 bulk cubic metres per month flow from the existing 25 000 t/a produc- tion will reduce the level of net debt, says Tiger. In addition to the deferral of capital expenditure associated with the expansion, the current SX/EW operations will continue to process ore from existing stockpiles at Kipoi, thereby extending the period before recommencing mining activities. Tiger is reviewing term sheets for long- term financing arrangements with the aim of restructuring existing debt with longer- dated facilities. This will include refinancing the Taurus bridge facility which is due for repayment in mid-October 2015. The com- pany is confident that this process is on track for completion during the first half of 2015. Following the refinancing, Tiger will re-evaluate the development timeline for the Kipoi Phase 2 expansion. 

within H1 2015 and working capital for this ramp-up period is required. The working capital requirement will be supplemented with the sale of a third parcel of diamonds during Q1 2015. Lucapa’s new Chief Executive Officer, StephenWetherall, said the plant efficiency improvements and technology investment would enable Lulo to meet its Phase 1 min- ing throughput target of 14 000 bcm per month before the end of H1 2015. Thereafter, a second phase capacity increase, through the sourcing of addi- tional earthmoving equipment and in field screening units, will see mining activities ramping up to supply gravels for a tar- geted plant throughout rate of 40 000 bcm per month. Wetherall noted that mining under Phase 1 would focus on select areas within the mining licence area that produced higher grades during the alluvial bulk sam- pling programmes. “The pits we have bulk sampled to date have delivered an overall average grade of just under 11 carats per 100 m 3 ,”he stated. “However, as is the nature of an alluvial resource versus that of an open-pit hard rock mine, we are able to more easily adapt our mine plan to target specific high grade areas without compromising future mining. If we were to target areas that produced bulk sample grades greater than 5 carats per 100 m 3 , our average sam- pled grade increases to around 15 carats per 100 m 3 . These higher grade resource areas will be the focus of our Phase 1 mine plan.” 

Tiger Resources to postpone Kipoi expansion In an update on its operations at the Kipoi copper project in Katanga in the DRC, Australian miner Tiger Resources says that the ramp-up of the solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX/EW) plant at Kipoi has been successfully completed and the operation continues to achieve name- plate production at an annualised rate of 25 000 t/a.

While the Kipoi Phase 2 expansion to 50 000 t/a continues to represent a low- risk, low capital intensity growth option with attractive returns, Tiger says it consid- ers it prudent to postpone the expansion until the forecast balance sheet ratios comfortably support the required capital expenditure profile. Postponement of the expansion will enhance balance sheet strength as net cash

12  MODERN MINING  January 2015