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7 Feb 2012 07:00
Weatherly International Plc
Tschudi Feasibility Study - Progress Report
Weatherly International Plc ("Weatherly" or "the Company") is pleased to present a Progress Report on the Tschudi Feasibility Study.
Highlights
·; Total Resource increased 5% to 50.1mt at 0.86% copper (up from 47.7mt at 0.85% copper)
·; Contains a maiden open pit reserve of 22.2mt at 0.87% copper
·; Reserves support an 11 year life of mine producing 15kt copper per annum
·; Feasibility due for completion in mid-2012
Rod Webster, CEO of Weatherly, commented:
"The progress being made on the Tschudi Feasibility Study demonstrates that the project is progressing as we had envisaged, albeit with some important enhancements. The fundamentals of the project are very good and we look forward to the prospect of adding an additional mine to our portfolio."
Background
The Tschudi project comprises the development, mining and processing of an oxide, transitional and sulphide copper deposit on the granted mining license ML125 near the town of Tsumeb in northern Namibia. The operations will utilise an open-cut mining method and a solvent extraction ("SX") electro winning ("EW") processing route. This processing route will result in the operations producing an LME grade copper cathode on site in Namibia.
Key Data
Resources (JORC) | 50.1mt @ 0.86% Cu (0.3% cut off) |
Open Pit reserve (JORC) to 198m Copper contained | 22.2mt @ 0.87% Cu (0.3% cut off) 194,030t |
Annual Mining Rate | ~7m BCM / 2-2.7mt of ore |
Overall Mining Cost | US$ 2.60/t ore plus wasteUS$ 22.36/t ore processed |
Mine Life | 11 years |
Design Capacity | 15ktpa copper cathode |
Copper Recovered (LOM) | 161,944t |
Cash Costs (ave. LOM) | ~ US$4380/t copper* |
Mining Licence | Granted (ML125) |
Environmental Approval | Granted in 2003 - subject to variation |
Social Impact | Over 500 new jobs in Namibia |
* The pit optimisation is price dependent and any resulting operating cost is subject to change.
Capital costs will be available as soon as detailed design work is completed and quantities estimated.
Details of the Proposed Operations
Revised Resource and Maiden Reserve Statement
An updated resource statement has been released by our geological consultants, Coffey Mining in Perth. The resource has seen an increase of 5% on the last statement released in 2009 to a measured, indicated and inferred resource of 50.1 million tonnes at 0.86% copper (using a 0.3% cut off), representing 431 kt of copper metal.
Pit optimisation using a copper price of US$7500/t has resulted in a final pit designed to a depth of 198m. The life of mine reserve is 22.2mt of ore grading 0.87% copper and containing 193kt of copper. Of this, 162kt tonnes of copper will be recovered by the leaching process.
Mineral Resource Estimate and Classification for 2012 | |||
Category | Tonnage (kt) | Cu Grade (%) | Cu Content (kt) |
Resource - Measured, Indicated and Inferred | 50,075 | 0.86 | 431 |
Reserve - Probable | 22,200 | 0.87 | 194 |
Mineral Resource Estimate and Classification for 2009 | |||
Category | Tonnage (kt) | Cu Grade (%) | Cu Content (kt) |
Resource - Measured, Indicated and Inferred | 47,718 | 0.85 | 401 |
Mine Schedule
Coffey Mining has produced a mine schedule based on 3 interim pits prior to the final cutback in year 8. The life of the mine is 11 years although further cutbacks may be justified at higher copper prices. The average annual mining rate is 7 million bcm per year yielding between 2mt to 2.7mt of ore. The schedule has been designed to maintain production of 15kt of copper cathode per year.
Metallurgical Process
From a processing perspective, 25% of the ore has been designated as 'mixed' containing both oxides (malachite and azurite) and secondary sulphides. The remaining 75% is designated as 'fresh' containing mostly secondary sulphides (covellite and chalcocite) and non leachable sulphides. Mineralisation extends into the dolomitic footwall, but for the purposes of the feasibility study, only the copper ore hosted in sandstone has been included in the stated reserves.
It was determined in the feasibility study that the most economic metallurgical route was heap leach, solvent extraction and electro winning. The ore is crushed to 9mm and stacked with agglomerated fines onto pads of between 4-6m high depending on the blend of ore types. The pads are irrigated with dilute sulphuric acid which percolates through the pads leaching out the copper. The resulting pregnant solution is collected and upgraded via the solvent extraction plant to a clean electrolyte suitable for electro winning.
The electro winning process uses electrolysis to plate the copper element from the electrolyte onto stainless steel cathodes. The copper is then stripped from the cathode, bundled and packed for sale.
The processing infrastructure (heap leach pads, SX-EW plant) has been designed to achieve an output capacity of 15,000 tonnes per annum of copper metal in cathode. The cash cost of production has been estimated at US$4380 /t of copper over the life of the project.
Infrastructure
The project is well located in that it is only 26 road kilometres from the northern town of Tsumeb (population: 15,000). Site infrastructure will be minimal given adequate water from bores adjacent to the pit and the proximity (13 km) from the main Nampower substation. The town of Tsumeb provides most services including accommodation, light engineering, rail and air transport. More importantly, the smelter (owned by Dundee Precious Metals) is planning to build an acid plant for environmental reasons and is currently seeking interest from potential acid users.
Programme to Production
An indicative timeline for the project is:
·; Completion of the Feasibility study mid 2012
·; Finalisation of the funding, appointment of Engineer, initial design and procurement of long lead time items by end of 2012
·; Construction is scheduled to commence in 2013
·; First copper cathode production is scheduled for 2014
Further Information
A more detailed and illustrated summary of the project is available on Weatherly's website in its most recent Indaba investor presentation.
Competent Person's Statement
Ms Kathleen Body and Mr Harry Warries, are consultants at Coffey Mining, and have reviewed and approved the technical information regarding the reporting of mineral resources and ore reserves contained within this announcement in their capacity as qualified persons, as required under the AIM rules. Both Mr Warries and Mr Goldschmidt qualify as a "Competent Person" as defined in the JORC Code.
About Weatherly
Weatherly is an AIM listed, copper focused mining company, the principal assets of which are located in Namibia. It currently has two producing copper mines (Otjihase and Matchless), and is progressing feasibility studies on projects which will enable Weatherly to achieve its medium term strategy of establishing a copper mining business capable of sustaining approximately 20,000tpa of copper at an average industry cost of production for at least ten years.
The Company also has a 25% stake in an AIM listed company, China Africa Resources Plc (CAF), which is currently focused on the development of the lead/zinc project at Berg Aukas in Northern Namibia.
For further information please contact:
Weatherly International Plc +44 (0) 20 7917 2989
Rod Webster, Chief Executive Officer
Dean Friday, Investor Relations
Collins Stewart Europe Limited +44 (0) 20 7523 8350
John Prior, Sebastian Jones
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