JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study at Aim- and JSE-listed African Eagle Resources’ flagship Dutwa nickel laterite project, in Tanzania, “fully justifies” further feasibility studies, the company reported on Wednesday.

The Africa-focused explorer’s MD, Mark Parker, said in a statement that the study, which was undertaken by Australian firm GRD Minproc, clearly demonstrated that the project could be economically viable.

GRD Minproc had modelled ten process options based on the deposit model produced by South African consulting engineering firm SRK for the Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource of 31-million tons.

It determined that atmospheric leaching with the production of intermediate hydroxide or sulphide products was the best process option, but that heap leaching would also be a viable option.

African Eagle would now undertake further feasibility studies at the project.

“I also believe that the implementation of GRD Minproc's recommended work programme to investigate the potential to reduce capital and operating costs and to improve revenues, will demonstrate both the robustness of the project and our ability to improve the project economics,” Parker noted in a statement.

Initial work on further feasibility studies had to be directed towards investigating certain variables that would save costs and increase revenues, GRD Minproc recommended.

It suggested that resource drilling be undertaken at the Ngasamo deposit and that the Dutwa resource model be upgraded to include the Ngasamo drill data.

The Ngasamo Hill deposit was situated about 5 km from the Dutwa project and seemed to be geologically similar. It was estimated that it had a potential laterite deposit of from 15-million tons to 20-million tons of nickel.

African Eagle could, in terms of an earlier agreement with the owners of the deposit, a Czech Republic firm, Safina, and its Tanzanian subsidiary, the Precious Metals Refinery Company, earn a 75% stake in the project by conducting exploration and evaluation work on the deposit until the feasibility stage.

Further, GRD Minproc said that the exploration company should investigate ways to reduce transport costs and to find other sources of reagents, especially line and sulphur, as well as find lower-cost reagents.

Advanced metallurgical testing for tank and heap-leach options, an environmental-impact assessment and hydrological surveys also had to be conducted.

Metallurgical test work was now being undertaken by Mintek Laboratories, while drilling of the Ngasamo deposit would start in August.

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