Premier looks to produce from Zim tungsten mine by end-2013
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-quoted multicommodity natural resources company Premier African Minerals on Monday said a recent exploration update from its flagship RHA tungsten project, in Zimbabwe, indicated the potential for development of a low-capital- and low-operating-cost mine in the near term.
A five-hole diamond drilling programme undertaken on site confirmed significant tungsten oxide values.
"This update has revealed significant tungsten mineralisation in the form of very coarse wolframite crystals hosted by quartz veins identified from drillhole intersections, and highlights the exceptional prospectivity of our RHA tungsten project,” Premier CEO George Roach said in a statement.
Drilling had also potentially uncovered three previously unknown, well-mineralised quartz veins in the existing lode system.
Further low-cost surface trenching and sampling would be undertaken in the first quarter of the year to confirm the surface location and extent of the hanging wall lodes, with a South African Mineral Codes-compliant resource on target for completion within the first half of the year.
“In tandem with this, we are also completing a conceptual mine study, which will determine the most beneficial and cost-effective method of exploiting the known extent of the RHA deposit,” added Roach.
The conceptual study would consider the possibility of early and low-cost production from the recently discovered outcropping mineralised quartz veins, as well as from existing tailings dams and dumps.
“Given the availability of water and power at the property, and the relative simplicity of the required processing plant, we believe we will be able to start development with a view to production potentially before the end of 2013," Roach advised.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation