JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Tschudi copper project in Namibia remains on track to start production in the second quarter of this year.

“We are ahead of schedule and look forward to being in production,” Weatherly International CE Rod Webster said in a statement to shareholders on Wednesday.

He noted that progress made on the project had been “impressive”, with large sections of the crushing and agglomeration plant commissioned in advance of the Christmas break. “We have made excellent progress with mining, our crushing and processing plant, acid delivery and the connection to grid electricity.”

Mining at the 50.1-million-ton project got under way in July 2014, and, in December, 2 000 t of ore was put through the crushing and agglomeration plant as a precommissioning test, with the plant achieving the desired throughput rates.

Weatherly had completed the recruitment of a workforce for the project and the plan for commissioning of the plant had been agreed. Operators were undergoing training under the supervision of specialist commissioning group PPM Global.

CLOSE TO COMPLETION
Leach Panels One and Two were close to completion and would be ready to receive ore once the crushing plant was in operation. The raw water and raffinate ponds were completed and filled with water over the Christmas break. Work on the pregnant leach solution pond was ongoing and was expected to be completed next week.

On December 17, the first acid road tankers arrived from Rössing, Namibia’s longest-running openpit uranium mine, operated by mining giant Rio Tinto. The tankers started unloading into the newly commissioned acid storage tank, with about 650 t delivered.

Originally, acid was to be sourced from the adjacent Dundee Precious Metals-owned Tsumeb smelter, but construction of the smelter's acid plant had been delayed. As an interim move, Weatherly signed a one-year contract with Rössing to import acid through the Port of Walvis Bay.

“Imported prices are currently lower than those offered by the smelter and, as a result, the contract [with Dundee Precious Metals] is being renegotiated,” the company noted.

Meanwhile, on December 14, Namibian power utility NamPower had signed off on the high-voltage installation, which would enable the mine  to switch to the main grid supply when ready.

Weatherly further reported that it had made the final payment under Tranche A of its loan facility with financier Orion Mine Finance, which was funding the copper project through an $80-million loan facility and an $8-million overrun facility. Orion would buy all of the copper cathode produced at the mine.

At the end of 2014, the company had drawn down $73-million of its $80-million Tranche B facility. The loan was expected to be fully drawn by the second quarter, with the first quarterly repayment of about $4.5-million scheduled for November 30.