JOHANNESBURG (miningweeekly.com) – South African mining entrepreneur and founder of Eland Platinum, Loucas Pouroulis has unveiled a new mining venture, in the form of platinum and chrome company, called Kameni.

The new venture would be run in much the same way as Eland Platinum, which Xstrata bought for R8-billion in 2007, with the only difference being the size of the ore bodies.

Kameni has secured platinum group-metals (PGMs) properties in the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, as well as a property in the Great Dyke basin, in Zimbabwe. The two bodies together constituted areas that contained about 85% of the world’s known PGMs resources.

Kameni CEO Stephen Gorven said on Thursday that the company estimated the two properties combined could deliver between 60-million ounces, and 90-million ounces of PGMs. The group was also targeting a production of 800 000 oz of PGMs a year at a steady state.

The South African operation, known as Kalkfontein, consisted of 6 025 ha of land, with a potential resource base of 50-million PGMs ounces. Kameni has entered into a partnership with platinum producer Impala Platinum (Implats) to contribute its prospecting rights over a portion of the Kalkfontein and Buffelshoek prospecting areas, Gorven said.

In return, Implats would receive a 20% interest on a fully funded basis, as well as an off take agreement for the life o mine for both the Kalkfontein and the Zimbabwean operation. Under the agreement, Implats has handed over the results from its drilling and exploration programme to Kameni.

The Kalkfontein operation had a life of mine estimation of between 15 and 20 years, and was set to deliver 200 000 t/m of upper ground 2 resources, and 100 000 t/m of Merensky Reef resources when fully operational.

The Zimbabwean operation, dubbed Bougai, would operate with a separate opencast PGMs and chrome mines to start, and would eventually move to underground operations. The site has potential resources of between ten-million ounces and 20-million ounces of PGMs.

The two mines would deliver an estimated 250 000 t/m of PGMs and 100 000 t/m of chrome, when in full production. Chrome production was set to start within six months of the start of mine development, and Gorven said this would supply some early cash flow.

Drilling at both properties would start in January next year, with 108 drill holes running at Kalkfontein, and 102 drill holes running at Bougai. Gorven said the exploration would be undertaken on an aggressive timeline, and Kalkfontein’s exploration should be completed within 18 months, while Bougai’s exploration would be completed within six months.

Kameni COO Clem Sweet said that within six months of the drilling programmes being undertaken, plant design would start, with the first ounces being produced 18 months later.

HIGH GRADES, LOW COSTS

Gorven stated the project would be profitable because it theoretically had high grades at low costs.

“The cost of PGMs an ounce is too early to determine, but I think that the team is very experienced. It is the quality of the ore bodies that we have that gives us the confidence to say that we believe Kameni will be a low-cost producer.”

He added that one had to keep in mind that although markets were tight at the moment, the mining industry was a long-term game.

“It is a 20-year life-of-mine, and it is a cyclical process as well. Sure you can buy things cheaply, and you can invest cheaply, but we believe that we can offer our investors a higher-value uplift by coming with us.”

CAPITAL RAISING AHEAD OF LISTING

Gorven noted that would aim to raise between R6,5-billion and R7-billion through a series of capital raising ventures, the first of which would be a seed capital raising.

The seed capital raising aimed to raise between R300-million and R1-billion to cover the exploration and feasibility study phase of the projects, and would be formally undertaken in January or February next year. The response from the market so far, said Gorven, had been surprisingly pleasant.

Kumeni also aimed to list on the JSE within the next 15 months. “We think that, that would be a good time, because we would have made good progress in terms of exploration, and I think the world economy would have had a chance to settle, and would hopefully be on the up.”