PRE Construction12 Sep 2025 05:18
@Hogsnipe – Worth stepping back and looking at what the company has actually disclosed.
Back in March 2024, Pensana confirmed that site prep was well underway: access roads built, camp foundations poured, water supply in place, and long-lead procurement already moving with the ball mill order placed at NCP International. Detailed design packages for thickeners, flotation columns and the acid plant were also completed at that stage, and a full construction schedule through to 2026 was published, covering each quarter right up to final commissioning.
Fast forward to July 2025, the company reconfirmed that the US$217m budget remains on track and that the schedule has been independently reviewed and validated. Engineering partners are in place: ProProcess Engineering, Lycopodium ADP and SRK Consulting, with SRK specifically engaged to design and certify the Tailings Storage Facility in line with international standards.
Most importantly, the independent due diligence for the banking syndicate was carried out by The Mineral Corporation (TMC). They reviewed the geology, mine plan, processing design, environmental and social framework and financial model – and it was on the back of that work that ABSA, as mandated lead arranger, and the other lenders approved $160m of debt funding. That verification is the reason the financing was signed – the banks simply would not have taken the risk otherwise.
As for what’s visible on the ground, the construction strategy is modular. The processing facility is being fabricated in South Africa by ProProcess and NCP, with modules partially commissioned before shipment. On site at Longonjo you’ll mainly see bases and foundations at this stage, because you can’t pour for heavy kit like crushers, mills and flotation cells until the groundworks are exact. The real transformation comes once the completed modules begin arriving next year and are bolted together – at which point visible progress will be rapid.
So although the site might look quiet to the casual eye, the reality is that the planning, engineering, procurement and independent sign-offs have already been done. The project is moving forward, on budget and on schedule, with most of the plant fabrication already in progress off-site.
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