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[August 2008]
Mineral Commodities Issues Update On Project Approvals
Mineral Commodities Ltd (Welshpool, WA, Australia) has provided updates on certain projects in its quarterly activities report.• The Mining Right Application for the Tormin Zircon and Rutile Project has been conditionally approved and formal execution is expected on 29 August 2008.
• The Mining Right Application for the Xolobeni Project is currently being assessed by the Department of Minerals and Energy. Xolobeni remains regarded as one of the largest undeveloped mineral sands resources in the world.
• Heads of Agreement was executed with ROK Diamonds Ltd which, if completed, will enable the company to sell the No 11 diamondiferous gravel dump at Koidu, Sierra Leone for US$2 million.
The Xolobeni mineral sands deposit is located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, approximately 300km north of East London and 200km south of Durban. Between June and November 2002 a detailed drilling programme over the Sikombe, Kwanyana and Mnyameni blocks within the tenement was completed. A Resource Estimate was completed by SRK Consulting using the data. The Xolobeni Mineral Resource is estimated to be 346 million tonnes of 5.0% heavy mineral, with 65% of this resource in the Measured category. A Desktop Mining Study was then undertaken by SRK using the resource estimate.
The Project is regarded as one of the largest undeveloped mineral sands resources in the world containing in excess of 9 million tonnes of ilmenite. The mining study concluded that the Xolobeni mineral sands deposit is economically viable with a mine life of some 22 years, producing some 250,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of ilmenite as well as 19,000 tpa of rutile, 15,000 tpa of zircon and 15,000 tpa of leucoxene.
The Tormin Prospect is based on a beach sand deposit located on the west coast of South Africa, approximately 400km north of Cape Town. The deposit is strategically situated close to Trans Hex Group’s (THG) diamond mining operations and approximately 50km south of Anglo American Group’s Namakwa Sands’ large scale heavy mineral sands mining operation located at Brand se Baai. The Project is also located close to Koekenaap from where Tormin’s planned output of mineral concentrate can be transported by existing inland rail some 200km to the export port at Saldanha Bay.
In 2005 Bateman Engineers conducted a feasibility study on the Project including pilot processing test work which demonstrated that high quality zircon (ceramic grade) and Hi Ti product could be produced from the Tormin material. The company subsequently commissioned an independent review by South African engineering consultants RSV K’enyuka to further refine the flow sheet including investigating the viability of only producing a non-magnetic zircon enriched heavy mineral concentrate which would not require a Mineral Separation Plant (MSP), thereby significantly reducing the capital and operating costs.
The Tormin project has been scoped to produce an enriched non-magnetic concentrate containing predominately zircon and rutile. The results of the study by RSV K’enyuka are being refined and various engineering firms have been approached to undertake the final design and construction of the processing plant and the mining operations.
The Tormin project was previously investigated by THG who estimated the mineral resource at 3.43Mt containing 81,300t zircon and 20,200 of rutile in Measured, Indicated and Inferred categories based on RC drilling. As part of a review to update the mineral resource it has been re-estimated using the THG RC drilling data and results of the MSR bulk sampling programme. The revised estimate is 2.71Mt containing 76,100t zircon and 18,300t rutile.
www.mineralcommodities.com.au
ENDS