JSE-listed Pallinghurst Resources said on Thursday that the a feasibility study had indicated that an open-pit mine producing two-million tons a year could be established at the Tshipi Kalahari manganese project, South Africa.
Pallinghurst, together with its co-investors, hold 49,9% of Tshipi.
Pallinghurst chairperson Brian Gilbertson said that the study had shown that the project was “large, robust and of long life”.
Tshipi had a total resource of 271-million tons. Exploration had defined resources of 161-million tons mineable by open pit methods, and a further 110-million tons were expected to be accessible through underground mining methods.
The feasibility study envisaged the creation of an openpit manganese mine to produce two-million tons a year of Mamatwan type manganese ore, grading 37%. The study confirmed that the project is economically robust, with production costs in the lowest industry quartile.
“The Kalahari Basin is one of the world’s important mineral provinces, and hosts 80% of the world’s manganese reserves. It is from here that the bulk of the ore essential for world steel production will be sourced for centuries to come,” Gilbertson said.
The project is located in an area benefiting from established road, power and rail infrastructure and has sufficient water resources for open pit mining. Tshipi would build its own 4 MVA power plant and plans to construct a dedicated high-speed rail loading facility.
Tshipi was also engaging with State-owned Transnet and participating in the manganese export capacity allocation process. In terms of this process, Transnet will allocate existing rail and port capacity to current and new manganese producers, and Tshipi has been confirmed as meeting Transnet’s initial requirements for the long-term allocation process. In addition, alternative transport solutions were presently undergoing detailed evaluation.
Pallinghurst stated that it would take about one year to produce the first saleable manganese ore after the formal “go decision”.
“We expect the project now to move rapidly to a formal ‘go decision’ as access to transport and port capacity is finalised. This is clearly a very attractive asset, which will unlock significant value for all our stakeholders as well as potentially create some 400 new jobs,” said Pallinghurst CEO Arne Frandsen.
In early June, the company announced that a subsidiary of South Korean steel firm Posco had acquired an 11,36% stake in the Tshipi manganese project for $34,3-million, and that it had negotiated an offtake agreement.
Source: Mining Weekly
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