LONDON (Alliance News) - Strategic Minerals PLC said on Thursday it has adopted a strategy to restart operations at the Leigh Creek copper mine in South Australia, expecting to start full production in mid-2019.
The strategy includes a low-risk processing option for the Mountain of Light and Lyndhurst projects, an extension of the existing mine plan of five years, refurbishing of the Mountain of Light processing plant, and completing the approvals for the Mountain of Light projects.
As a result, the company expects to increase the quoted resource, convert a proportion of the mineral inventory to a JORC reserve, complete an exploration plan to increase resources, finalise permits and licencing, recommission the plant, and start production from existing heaps in mid-2019.
"The board believes the commencement of production from LCCM should prove truly transformational for the company, providing a second profitable revenue stream to complement that currently being derived from our Cobre operation," said Managing Director John Peters.
In addition, Strategic Minerals said its subsidiary Southern Minerals Group, operator of the Cobre magnetite stockpile in the US state of New Mexico has agreed to suspend the minimum tonnage requirement under its contract signed last April 20 for three months, which is 4,000 tonnes of magnetite per month.
SMG's client said it is waiting on an environmental planning approval which is taking longer than expected and requested the requirement be suspended for March, April and May.
"Having dealt with similar environmental approval processes before, the company is understanding of the situation and looks forward to resumption of normal shipments in June," Peters said.
Shares in Strategic Minerals were down 1.9% at 1.57 pence on Thursday.
Strategic Minerals (SML)