July 2014
MODERN MINING
5
MINING News
Leach tanks at the Dalny mine. Dalny’s infrastructure includes a milling and leaching circuit, a tailings
dam, a maintenance facility and a laboratory and offices (photo: AFCR).
Premier commissions
update of mining study
AIM-traded Premier African Minerals Limited
reports that it has commissioned a further
review of a potentially low capital cost, near
term production alternative for the RHA
tungsten project in Zimbabwe.
The company recently announced a
substantial increase in the indicated and
inferred resource at RHA, in which Premier
is the operator and holds a 49 % interest.
The original mine study suggested an initial
open-pit approach and then development
of a decline for future underground mining.
The alternative approach under review con-
templates an immediate commencement
of mining operations through utilisation of
the existing underground development and
shaft system and construction of a plant at
the historic site.
The plant and flow sheet is expected to
be of similar design and capacity to that
contemplated in the initial mine study. If
the alternative mining approach is adopted,
production could commence from as soon
as the early part of next year at a reduced
mining rate with expansion taking place pro-
gressively thereafter. The alternatives under
review anticipate that Premier would finance
this without the need to raise further equity.
Premier expects that the updated mining
study should be completed in August 2014,
dependent on the completion of additional
metallurgical test work.
The RHA project is located in an area of
historic production, approximately 270 km
north-west of Bulawayo. Small-scale surface
and underground mining was conducted at
the site between 1931 and 1979. Total pro-
duction from the RHA and Tung mines was
1 247,65 tonnes of wolframite concentrate,
containing 65 %WO
3
.
strengthen our existing platform so that
AFCR can play a meaningful role in the
resurgence of the Zimbabwean gold sector.”
Pitchford – a past CEO of Zimplats,
Afplats and Cluff Resources – heads a new
executive team at AFCR. The company’s
Chairman isWilliamBattershill, the founder
and also current CEO of AltX-listed steel
supplier BSI Steel.
The Dalny mine has been in care and
maintenance since 30 August 2013, pre-
dominantly due to operational and labour
issues. In the year to 30 September 2013
the Dalny division of Falcon incurred a loss
before tax of US$11,3 million but, since the
shut down of the mine, the Division has
greatly reduced its operating loss.
Subject to the acquisition of Dalny,
AFCR has adopted a revised mining plan,
which entails mining ore at Pickstone at
the rate of 20 000 tonnes per month (tpm)
via an open-pit operation and trucking it to
Dalny for processing, from which a finan-
cial model has been derived.
Under the mining plan, initial works at
Pickstone and Dalny to prepare for min-
ing and processing are projected to take
two months from completion of funding,
with mining starting in the third month,
processing in the fourth month and gold
production in the fifth.
With the installation at Dalny of AFCR’s
20 000 tpm ball mill, which is currently
being stored in Europe, combined with
Dalny’s existing 60 000 tpm leaching facil-
ity and its tailings dam, production could
be increased with only limited capex.
Options to expand the mining plan include
mining at the Giant mine at Gadzema,
increased mining at Pickstone and the
potential to process material from the
Dalny dumps.
Preliminary internal company mod-
els target production potential of
141 000 oz Au from the Giant mine and
128 000 oz Au from the Dalny dumps,
without taking into account any addi-
tional exploration upside.
