Name of the Project
Rosh Pinah expansion (RP2.0).

Location
Namibia.

Project Owner/s
Trevali Mining Corporation.

Project Description
A feasibility study has reaffirmed RP2.0’s robust project economics.

The project has total proven and probable reserves of 12.35-million tonnes grading 6.41% zinc, 1.36% lead and 19.8 g/t silver.

The RP2.0 project will modernise and expand the 50-year-old mine, increasing throughput by 86% – from 700 000 t/y to 1.3-million tonnes a year – and production at a significantly lower operating cost.

Average payable zinc production is estimated at 135-million pounds of zinc.

Payable lead and silver production are estimated at 23.7-million pounds and 303 000 oz respectively.

The feasibility study incorporates a planned upgrade to the comminution circuit to include a new, single-stage semiautogenous grinding mill and pebble crusher. The expansion also includes primary crushing upgrades and an ore blending area, along with other circuit modifications intended to provide increased flotation, thickening, filtration and pumping capacity to achieve the target throughput of 1.3-million tonnes a year. The upgrade will also include several flowsheet modifications aimed at improving the concentrate grade and metal recoveries.

A dedicated portal and decline to the WF3 deposit will be built to support the increase in mine production levels and reduce operating costs. The planned trucking decline is 3.9 km long, excluding level access and stockpiles.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $156-million and an internal rate of return of 58%, with a payback of 4.6 years.

Capital Expenditure
The expansion will cost $111-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Detailed engineering and procurement of long-lead items is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2021, with construction expected to start in mid-2022.

Commercial production is expected in about mid-2024.

Latest Developments
Trevali Mining has started an early works programme on the RP2.0 and is advancing certain aspects to maintain the project schedule and mitigate the risks associated with the project as outlined in the feasibility study.

The early works programme, which has a capital budget of $20-million, is expected to be financed from in-house cash flows.

The scope of the early works programme includes the procurement of mobile equipment, a power supply system upgrade, the procurement of long-lead items for the paste backfill, portal construction and decline development, as well as detailed engineering for the process plant.

Trevali is concurrently working towards securing financing for the expansion project and refinancing the existing corporate revolving credit facility and the existing facility with mining major Glencore, which matures in September.

Trevali appointed financial services provider Endeavour Financial in September 2021 to advise the company on the formation of a lending syndicate, coordinate lender due diligence and negotiate financing documentation to provide a competitive nonequity financing solution for RP2.0 and refinance the existing corporate revolving credit facility.

The company is considering several opportunities for the financing package, including project finance debt, subordinated debt and a silver stream on Rosh Pinah's silver production.

Trevali has also received nonbinding expressions of interest from several capital providers about participating in the financing process, including commercial banks, streaming and royalty companies, and mining-focused alternative lenders, as well as from Rosh Pinah's concentrate offtaker Glencore.

Glencore has shown its support for the project by proposing an aggregate $33-million financing package, which may include an extension to the existing Glencore facility of $13-million.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
AMC Consultants (mining and mineral reserve estimation, geology and mineral resource estimation, as well as underground infrastructure); DRA Projects (metallurgical and ore processing, as well as ore processing and surface infrastructure aspects).

Contact Details for Project Information
Trevali Mining, tel +1 778 655 5885 or email info@trevali.com.