Global news and projects
According to James Sinclair, executive
chairman at Tanzanian Gold Corporation, the
company has drilled a total of about 4 700m
during the phase 1 pit infill drilling programme.
"Our open pit and the substantive mineralised
zones we are confirming both in, and below
the pit continue to impress. I believe we are
seeing our thesis of wider, deeper, richer being
confirmed as we progress our drilling programme
from phase 1 into phase 2. Intersecting 89.6m
of continuous gold mineralisation outside and
below the pit is spectacular and bodes well for
our future," says Sinclair.
Botswana
Metal Tiger increases investment
A digital representation of the new Centrex Metals Ardmore phosphate plant.
costs by 13% due to key design changes and
equipment selection.
Simon Slesarewich, CEO at Centrex Metals,
said since Centrex acquired Ardmore in 2017
the company had focused on producing high-
quality phosphate rock concentrate to deliver
this vital commodity for agriculture in Australia,
which is presently heavily reliant on imports.
“Following a thorough feasibility study,
we expect to produce 776 000t of premium
grade phosphate rock concentrate, which is
equivalent to 800 000 wet tonnes per annum at
the target shipping level of 3% moisture.
“To deliver this target over the estimated 10-
year lifetime of the mine, we required a reliable
and resilient wet processing solution to remove
the fine gangue after the high-grade ore has
been crushed to meet sizing specifications. Our
research showed that CDE could deliver a
solution that fully met our requirements.”
Concentrate produced from the start-up
phase will go to potential offtake customers.
Papua New Guinea
Barrick wants to mine Porgera for
20 years
Barrick president and CEO Mark Bristow
and Zijin executive director and senior
vice president George Fang, recently met
Papua New Guinea’s new Prime Minister
James Marape and reaffirmed the company’s
commitment to working with the PNG
government and local communities to ensure
that the Porgera gold mine continues to deliver
value to its stakeholders past the expiry of the
current special mining lease on 16 August 2019.
Since pouring its first gold in 1990, Porgera
has paid more than PGK3.6-billion (USD1.1-
billion) in taxes and PGK1-billion (USD297-
million) plus PGK600-million (USD178-
million) in equity cash payments and royalties
respectively to the provincial government
[8] MINING MIRROR AUGUST 2019
and customary landowners. This represents
a significant contribution to the country’s
economy, as well as a substantial amount to
the landowners on whose properties the mine
is located. An application to extend Porgera’s
special mining lease for a further 20 years is
currently in progress.
Bristow says Porgera was an important
long-term asset for PNG as well as the mine’s
owners, Barrick Gold Corporation and Zijin
Mining Group. “The proposed extension to its
lease will allow the mine to remain productive
for at least another 20 years. To sustain mine
operations, however, it will require a significant
capital injection, and it is difficult to justify that
kind of investment without the security of an
extended mine lease,” he says.
Porgera is a joint venture between Barrick
and the Zijin Mining Group, which each owns
47.5% with the remaining 5% interest being
held by Mineral Resources Enga (owned equally
by Porgera Special Mining Lease Landowners
and the Enga Provincial Government). The
mine is operated by Barrick (Niugini). Porgera
is in the Enga Province of Papua New Guinea
at an altitude of 2200-2700m. It is 130km west
of Mt Hagen and 600km northwest of the
capital Port Moresby. The mine employs more
than 3 300 Papua New Guineans of which
1 900 are from Porgera and nearby Enga.
Tanzania
End of in-pit drilling
Tanzanian Gold Corporation has announced
results from three holes that bring an end to
phase 1 of the in-pit drilling programme at its
Buckreef gold project in Tanzania.
Tanzanian Gold Corporation announced a
three-phase drilling programme in January this
year with the primary objective of phase 1 to
upgrade inferred resources within the open pit
and to add additional ounces.
London Stock Exchange AIM-listed Metal
Tiger has announced an additional USD1.1-
million equity investment into Botswana
focused explorer Kalahari Metals. Metal Tiger
currently owns 50% of the issued share capital.
The additional investment enables Kalahari
Metals to complete its planned first round
drilling at the Ngami copper project and the
Okavango copper project, both in Botswana.
The cutting of access tracks for the
2 100m diamond drill programme started,
on schedule, last month, and drill rigs will be
mobilised this week.
According to Michael McNeilly, CEO
of Metal Tiger, the additional funding
allows Kalahari Metals to plan further work
programmes over its licence holdings. “The
Kalahari Copper Belt is highly prospective, and
we are confident that continued exploration
work in the region will potentially result in new,
exciting copper discoveries,” says McNeilly.
Ethiopia
Altus goes for gold
Altus Strategies’ Ethiopian subsidiary Altau
Resources has been granted the Zager
exploration licence in the Tigray National
Regional State in northern Ethiopia.
The Zager exploration license covers an
area of about 285km2 in northern Ethiopia.
The licence targets the Nakfa terrain of the
Neoproterozoic Arabian Nubian Shield,
which is considered highly prospective for
polymetallic and gold-rich Volcanogenic
Massive Sulfide (VMS) mineralisation, as well
as orogenic lode gold deposits.
According to Steven Poulton, CEO of
Altus, a first phase reconnaissance exploration
programme will include a field assessment
of numerous remote sensing targets and a
licence-wide stream sediment sampling survey
to prioritise areas of interest.
Zager is underlain by an almost identical
geological terrain to that of Altus’s Daro
project, located 80km to the east. The geology
of this region hosts the Bisha mine owned
by Zinjin Mining and the Asmara project
owned by Sichuan Road & Bridge Mining
Investment Development Corporation in
Eritrea, about 135km north and north-east
of Zager respectively. Zager is also just 10km
northwest of the Harvest VMS project, which
is being advanced by TSX-V listed East
Africa Metals.
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