Modern Mining October 2023

COPPER

With copper demand forecast to outstrip supply in the next few years, the future, according to Mark Sawyer, co-founder of Greenstone Resources, looks bright for Namibia’s latest copper developer, Omico Mining, which is advancing its Omitiomire Copper project. By Nelendhre Moodley . Omico advances Omitiomire DFS, eyes construction by 2025

O mico Mining was formed in 2019, through a strategic partnership between Greenstone Resources (Greenstone) and International Base Metals, when they entered into an earn in agreement over the Omitiomire Copper Project. Through its Namibian subsidiary Craton Mining and Exploration, Omico holds mining licence ML197 and exclusive prospecting licence EPL8550 – a 30 000-ha licence area which makes up the Omitiomire Copper Project, located 120 km from Windhoek, in central Namibia. To date, drilling has identified a measured and indicated resource of 95.8 million tonnes (mt) at 0.59% total copper (TCu) for 563 300 t contained copper (09+.25% Cu cut-off grade). According to Project Manager Mike Stuart, the company is looking to complete its bankable feasibil ity study (BFS) by year-end or during the first quarter of 2024 at the latest, after which it will begin fund raising – targeting between $250- $350 million for project development. Since taking a 51% shareholding in the project in 2019, London-based Greenstone Resources, which has built mines across the world including Africa, South America, North America and Australasia,

has taken over the sole funding of all Omitiomire development costs. To date, the company has spent roughly $10m to upgrade the resource and on the feasibility study – over and above the roughly $20m injected by the previous owners. “Obviously, getting to

the point of construction will be dependent on achieving the requisite project financing, but if all goes according to plan, we should start construction by 2025,” says Sawyer.

Project construction is expected to take roughly 18 months, with initial production by 2026, and steady-state production by 2027. Stuart notes that the minerals processing aspect of the project remains amenable to using chloride curing, acid heap leach and SX/EW.

Project manager, Mike Stuart and team member inspecting the core samples.

Metallurgical tests suggest that Omico can expect 85% leach recovery of copper, with relatively low acid con sumption, and a final cathode copper product of about 99.995% Cu. “Development of the Omitiomire project is straightforward – the open pit mine will produce 25, 000 tpa of copper cathode for the export market. Using solvent-extraction and electro winning (SX/EW) technology, combined with optimised hybrid solar PV and grid power, the project will efficiently produce LME Grade A copper cath ode that does not require any further smelting or refining prior to industrial use. The process creates a high-value and low-emission product that does not require tailing storage facilities that pose a risk to communities or the envi ronment,” explains Stuart.

14  MODERN MINING  October 2023