Modern Mining November 2017

COPPER

Kalongwe study indicates low capex and strong returns

accuracy and confirms the technical and financial viability of an open-pit mining opera- tion utilising an on-site 1 Mt/a Dense Media Separation (DMS) processing plant to produce two high-quality dry saleable concentrate prod- ucts suitable as a feedstock for off-site SX-EW processing. C1 operating costs are forecast at US$1,35/lb of payable copper production, including by-product credits. The Stage 1 life of mine is seven years and payback is estimated at 21 months. Key financial highlights include a relatively low capital cost outlay of US$53,12 million, a rapid project construction timeline of just 12 months and attractive economics and financial returns including a pre-tax NPV 10% of US$116 million, a post-tax NPV 10% of US$82 million and a pre-tax/post-tax IRR of 71 %/55%. The Kalongwe project is owned by Kalongwe Mining SA (KMSA) under a joint venture agree- ment between Nzuri Copper (85%), La Generale Industrielle et Commerciale au Congo (GICC)

ASX-listed Nzuri Copper recently released the results of a positive Feasibility Study (FS) on the proposed Stage 1 de- velopment of the company’s 85 %-owned Kalongwe oxide copper-cobalt deposit near Kolwezi in the DRC’s Lualaba Province. The Stage 1 project will be capable of producing 143 000 t/a of DMS and spiral concentrate products, equiv- alent to an annual average metal production of 19 360 tonnes of copper and 1 507 tonnes of cobalt, with the FS confirming a low capex and strong returns.

U ndertaken by Lycopodium (as principal contractor) with input from several other consultants, the FS includes a maiden ore reserve estimate for Kalongwe of 6,98 Mt at 3,03 % copper and 0,36 % cobalt for 211 494 tonnes of contained copper and 25 128 tonnes of contained cobalt. The study has been completed to +15 %

Nzuri Copper’s exploration camp at Kalongwe.

22  MODERN MINING  November 2017