Copper Processing Plant Completed and Ready for Transportation to Tanzania
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Marula Mining PLC
(“Marula’’ or the “Company”)
24 August 2023
Copper Processing Plant Completed and Ready for Transportation to Tanzania
Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU) an African focused mining and development company, is pleased to provide an update on the Kinusi Copper Mine (“Kinusi” or the “Project”), where the Company’s processing consultants in South Africa, Amoref Pty Limited (“Amoref”) have completed the construction of an initial modular processing plant (the “Processing Plant”) that is now ready for transportation, installation and commissioning on site in Tanzania.
Amoref completed the final design work and detailed costings of the Processing Plant earlier in Q3 2023 and have now completed construction of the custom designed modular units based on test work that was undertaken on material delivered from Kinusi.
The Processing Plant will now be transported to Tanzania and installed and commissioned on a 28 hectare site that benefits from access to both an existing power and water supply and has direct road access through to port facilities in Dar es Salaam.
It is proposed that upon successful commissioning and operation of the Processing Plant, the Company will look to expand processing capacity based upon the next Phase II Program of exploration activities and resource definition drilling work that is to be completed.
Highlights
- The Processing Plant has been designed and constructed in South Africa by Amoref, an experienced crushing, gravity concentration, milling and process plant consultants and manufacturers
- A two-phase processing operation is proposed to target production of a high-grade concentrate of +20% copper and a low-grade concentrate of +10% copper with final concentrate grades to be optimised following receipt of outstanding assay work
- The Processing Plant has been designed with up-front crushing capacity of 20 tonnes per hour (“TPH”) with initial milling capacity set at 5TPH and with the capacity to be increased to 20TPH
- Initial feed for the Processing Plant is intended to be from the copper mineralised corridor that has been identified at Kinusi and which extends for over 1km of strike length and is 300m wide and across eight of the granted mining licenses at the Sasimo Prospect
- Negotiations on the planned sales of both the high-grade and low-grade copper concentrates are ongoing with the four short-listed global trading commodity groups, as previously announced on 23 May 2023 and are expected to be completed in Q4 2023
- The Company will appoint an expanded technical team, that will oversee the operation of the Processing Plant at Kinusi
- The planned commissioning and operation of the Processing Plant and shallow high-grade open pit mining operations will be carried out in parallel with the planned Phase II Program of exploration activities
Jason Brewer, Marula Mining PLC CEO said:
“Completion of the construction of the initial modular processing plant for the Kinusi Copper Mine is another step forward for the Company.
“I’ve said publicly of our intention to move very quickly at Kinusi to support our partners Takela and take this project into production and be in a position to make sales of a high-grade copper concentrate.
“Amoref have now successfully designed and completed construction of an initial small and modular plant, which has the potential to be expanded as we advance both the mining and processing operations and the concurrent exploration activities.
“Full credit must be given to the design and construction work undertaken by Amoref and the efforts put in by our COO, Tokkas van Heerden in overseeing and managing this.
“I look forward to updating our shareholders and investors once transportation of the processing plant to the Kinusi Copper Mine commences and on the progress of its installation and commissioning.”
Process Plant Design
Initially the Processing Plant comprises a feed bin with a Grizzly fitted with a transfer conveyer and a scalping screen. All fines are fed into a double roller mill and then into a rod mill and the oversize material is fed into a 10 x 16 Telsmith jaw crusher.
The crushed material is fed into the scalping screen to ensure all material is processed into 1mm to 75 micron fines. A slew conveyer ensures significant flexibility in the process flow sheet such that material can be moved to either feed a process stockpile or direct to the mill.
Phase Two of the Processing Plant sees the milled fines being fed with a paddle feeder using gravity and into a James-table circuit with the milled fines fed into 3 Amoref shaking tables.
Material from the first and second tables are pumped into the final table, where the copper concentrate is recovered and placed on drying pads and stockpiled before transportation and sale under the Company’s proposed copper offtake arrangements.
The Directors of Marula are responsible for the contents of this announcement. This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of UK Market Abuse Regulation.
About Marula Mining
Marula Mining (AQSE: MARU) is an African focused battery metals investment and exploration company and has interests in several high value mine projects in Africa; Blesberg Lithium and Tantalum Mine in South Africa, Nkombwa Hill Project in Zambia and Kinusi Copper Mine, Bagamoyo Graphite Project and Nyorinyori Graphite Project in Tanzania. As we advance operations at these battery metals focused projects, Marula will continue to build and expand its interests in other high-quality projects in Africa.
Marula’s strategy is to identify and invest in advanced and high-value mining projects throughout East, Central and Southern Africa that the Directors believe would deliver returns for its shareholders. The Board and management team aims to establish Marula as a socially and environmentally responsible, sustainable, and profitable producer of critical metals and commodities that are of increasingly strategic importance to modern technologies and the global economy.
Marula’s shares are traded on the AQUIS Stock Exchange (AQSE), Marula is exploring opportunities to admit its shares to trading on AIM, the market operated by the London Stock Exchange Group plc, Kenya’s Nairobi Securities Exchange and South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
For enquiries contact:
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Marula Mining PLC Jason Brewer, Chief Executive Officer
Faith Kinyanjui Mumbi Investor Relations |
Email : jason@marulamining.com
Email : info@marulamining.com
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AQSE Corporate Adviser Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, Liam Murray / Ludovico Lazzaretti |
+44 (0)20 7213 0880 |
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Broker Peterhouse Capital Limited, |
+44 (0)20 7469 0930
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Financial PR and IR BlytheRay Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Said Izagaren |
+44 (0)20 7138 3204
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Caution;
Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should" ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', "expect", ''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.
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