Modern Mining September 2019

MINING news

Zimplats delivers another year of profitable production

Reporting on the Zimplats operation in Zimbabwe in its annual results (to 30 June 2019), Implats says that the Zimplats team delivered another year of consistent, effi- cient and profitable production. Increased volumes from the fully rede- veloped Bimha mine compensated for opencast contributions in the prior period, yielding largely unchanged milled ton- nage and PGE head grade of 6,49 Mt and 3,48 g/t, respectively (FY2018: 6,57 Mt and 3,48 g/t). Platinum production was flat at 270 000 platinum ounces in matte (including con- centrates sold) (FY-2018: 271 000) and benefited from smelter volumes released ahead of the planned furnace rebuild in the new financial year. Costs were well contained with absolute savings due to the closure of the opencast section, reduced treatment fees from the export of concentrates in the previous year, and tailwinds from the impact of a depreci- ating rand and RTGS on local input pricing. Cash costs of US$348 million declined by 2 % (US$356 million) as did unit costs of US$1 288 per platinum ounce in matte (FY‑2018: US$1 313). Zimplats’ achieved basket price ben- efited from its high palladium, nickel and copper content, which compensated for weaker platinum pricing. Sales revenues increased by 20 % to R9,0 billion (FY-2018: R7,5 billion). The operation delivered gross profit of R2,7 billion (FY-2018: R1,9 billion).

The development of Mupani mine, which will replace the Ngwarati and Rukodzi mines, continues to run ahead of schedule. At year-end, US$67 million had been spent, with an estimated total cost of US$260 million at completion. Ore contact was reached in the fourth quarter of the year under review and production from a single mining fleet began in June 2019. The capital project is expected to be completed by July 2024. However, steady- state platinum production of 90 000 ounces per annum will only be achieved The new Mupani mine will replace the Ngwarati and Rukodzi mines (photo: Implats).

in 2029 when all the teams from the two depleting shafts are relocated to Mupani. Surface infrastructure development, to facilitate earlier-than-planned mining, is being prioritised. Zimplats is 87 %-owned by Implats and it is situated on the Zimbabwean Great Dyke south-west of Harare. Zimplats operates several underground mines and a concen- trator at Ngezi. The Selous Metallurgical Complex (SMC), located 77 km north of the underground operations, comprises a con- centrator and a smelter.  operations at the Prieska project. The planned Foundation Phase of operations would result in the mining and processing of 2,4 Mt/a of run-of mine feed for 10 years, to sell approximately 21 kt of copper and 70 kt of zinc as differentiated concentrates each year. Other post-BFS workstreams in prog- ress to prepare the project for execution include third-party peer reviews of the BFS in preparation for funding discussions; the value engineering of components of the BFS; mine-to-market business plan opti- misation using the Whittle Enterprise Optimisation process; pilot-scale water treatment field trials of the water accu- mulated in the underground excavations; and the expedition of the various ancillary licences required to operate a mine. Orion reports that substantial progress is being made in all areas. 

Orion and Byrnecut envisage partnering on Prieska Orion Minerals, listed on the ASX and JSE, has announced that it has concluded a Memorandum of Agreement with Byrnecut Offshore (Proprietary) Limited (Byrnecut) envisaging an alliancing agreement for underground mine development and pro- duction at the Prieska copper-zinc project in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province. The agreement follows the announce- ment of the grant of the Mining Right for the Prieska copper-zinc mine and paves the way for Byrnecut to bring the benefit of its experience to the development and opera- tion of the Prieska project which is intended as a global best practice mechanised min- ing operation.

at the Prieska project, whereby Byrnecut:  undertakes to provide underground mine development and mine production services;  commits to promoting local employment and skills transfer in support of transfor- mation of the industry; and  commits to collaborating with local black economic empowerment (BEE) enter- prises, in line with Orion’s commitment to the progressive transformation and modernisation of the South African min- ing industry. Formalising the agreement is one of the key project development milestones that follow the release of the positive Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) (announced in June 2019) for the establishment of high margin and long-life underground mining

Key terms of the agreement are that the parties will seek to enter an alliancing agreement related to underground mining

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