Modern Mining May 2015

MINING News

First Quantum’s Zambian projects now ramping up

reduced and sulphuric acid from the smelter is being used in the mine’s process- ing facilities in higher volumes and much earlier than anticipated in our operating plan,” noted Philip Pascall, First Quantum’s Chairman and CEO. “Likewise, the ramp-up of the Sentinel mine is steadily improving as the wet season in the region eases. Over the remainder of the year, we expect the com- pany’s total production and unit costs to reflect the benefits of having a dedicated smelter, Sentinel’s increasing production and the opportunity at Kansanshi to treat more mixed and oxide ores with free acid from the smelter.” He added that Kansanshi ’s Q1 performance was in line with previously- provided guidance for 2015. “In that guidance, we mentioned that the mine’s output was expected to be at its lowest for the year during Q1 because we intended to limit sulphuric acid consumption, and hence production, until free acid became available as a by-product from our smelter. The latter is now being realised.” The Kansanshi mine is Africa’s big- gest copper mine and in 2014 produced 263 000 tonnes of copper as well as 155 000 ounces of gold. The new smelter is expected to process 1,2 Mt/a of con- centrate to produce over 300 000 t of copper metal once in full operation. It will also produce 1 Mt/a of sulphuric acid as a by-product. The new Sentinel mine is cost- ing US$2 billion to develop and has the capacity to produce 300 000 t/a of copper concentrate. The project includes a mod- ern, full-service town.  projects in West Africa, which includes the New Liberty gold project in Liberia for Aureus Mining and theYaramoko gold proj- ect in Burkina Faso for Roxgold. “We’ve been working closely with the Sierra Rutile team on studies and alterna- tive designs for the past nine months. This period included a joint value engineering exercise which resulted in cost savings of several million dollars. This demonstrates our ability to develop optimum solutions for projects, based on innovative thinking by the teams of both DRA and our client.” Site works on the project will begin shortly with commissioning expected in April 2016. 

The new Kansanshi smelter is expected to process 1,2 Mt/a of concentrate to produce over 300 000 t of copper metal once in full operation (photo: FQM).

open-pit copper mine. It reports that Sentinel’s Train 1 is progressing towards steady-state operations and that ramp-up during the peak of thewet season achieved periods above nameplate design through- put. Commissioning of Train 2 continued during the quarter. Commercial produc- tion for the mine is currently expected in Q3 2015. “We’re very pleased with the rapid ramp-up of the smelter which reflects the diligent work done throughout the planning and construction of the proj- ect to ensure this outcome. As a result, Kansanshi’s concentrate inventory is being struction and commissioning will be carried out by DRA’s internal specialist LSTK Projects Group. Beneficiation in the new process plant will include scrubbing, screening, desliming and gravity spirals recovery. Concentrate will be further upgraded on site by the existing beneficiation plant. Paul Thomson, DRA’s global CEO, com- ments: “This is an especially pleasing award for DRA and represents something of a milestone in our 30-year history. It is a significant mineral sands project for us, and our first project in Sierra Leone. It adds to our growing complement of recent

In its latest quarterly report for the three months ended March 31, 2015, First Quantum Minerals (FQM) notes that tech- nical commissioning of the new smelter at its Kansanshi copper mine near Solwezi in north-west Zambia has been successfully completed. It says that the ramp-up of the facility is progressing well with a sub- sequent reduction in the mine’s copper concentrate inventory and use of by-prod- uct sulphuric acid in the mine’s oxide and mixed ore circuits replacing third-party purchases. Also in Zambia’s Nor th-Western Province, FQM is developing the Sentinel

DRA secures milestone project in Sierra Leone Global engineering and project delivery company DRA has announced that it has been awarded Phase 1 of the Gangama mineral sands project in south-west Sierra Leone by Sierra Rutile Limited (SRL).

SRL is a leading producer of mineral sands and reportedly the world’s second largest producer of natural rutile. The com- pany’s lease in Sierra Leone is the world’s largest known deposit of natural rutile and has been mined since the early 1960s. The 500 t/h Phase 1 project has been awarded to DRA on a lump sum turnkey (LSTK) basis. Design, procurement, con-

10  MODERN MINING  May 2015