Name of the Project
Baobab phosphate project.

Location
The project is located 140 km east of the capital of Dakar, in Senegal.

Project Owner/s
Avenira.

Project Description
A feasibility study has confirmed the technical and financial robustness of a long-life operation for the Baobab phosphate project.

The project has a probable ore reserve of 39.3-million tonnes grading 18.9% phosphorous pentoxide.

The study is based on an openpit strip-mining design and conventional flotation and magnetic separation ore processing plant, operating at an ore throughput of 2.9-million tonnes a year and a phosphate rock concentrate post ramp-up production rate of one-million tonnes a year.

Strip mining has been determined as the most cost effective and feasible combination for the extraction of ore at the project’s Gadde Bissik deposit.

The process plant is designed to separate clay, silica, iron and other minor gangue minerals present in the ore from the phosphate-containing minerals to achieve a phosphate concentrate with maximum assays of 8% silicone dioxide and 1% iron oxide.

The plant design target is to produce one-million tonnes a year of concentrate by varying the feed tonnage within the design allowance parameters.

The project’s mine life has been estimated at 13.4 years.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax unlevered net present value, at an 8% discount rate of $306-million and an internal rate of return of 29.4%, with a payback of 3.3 years from first production.

Capital Expenditure
Total preproduction capital expenditure is estimated at $183.1-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Avenira is planning a bankable feasibility study for the June quarter of 2019, which will be completed by the December quarter, with the company also hoping to advance discussions with potential funding parties. The final investment decision is targeted for the first half of 2020.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
MPR Geological Consultants (resource estimate); Wood PLC (mining engineering and study, process engineering and infrastructure, and tailings storage facility); Phosphate Beneficiation (metallurgy and process consulting); Mineral Resource Associates (metallurgy and flotation testwork); FLSmidth (comminution, thickening, settling and drying testwork); Mintek (comminution, flotation and granulometry testwork); Greentechnical (bulk solids flow); Mac One Technologies, Roytec Global and FLSmidth (filtration testwork); SGS (analytical services); Outotec and Eriez Manufacturing Co (magnetic separation testwork); Prayon Technologies (phosphoric acid pilot testwork); CRU Consulting (marketing – product price projection); and Avenira and Bentleys (financial model).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Avenira, tel +61 8 9264 7000 or email frontdesk@avenira.com.