PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A revised feasibility study into the Tala Hamza zinc/lead project, in Algeria, has shown that the project could recover some 129 300 t/y of zinc concentrate and 26 000 t/y of lead concentrate over a mine life of 21 years.

ASX-listed Terramin Australia on Wednesday reported that a preproduction capital investment of A$449-million would be required, with the project’s post tax net present value estimated at A$399-million and its internal rate of return at 14%, based on a zinc price of $1.25/lb and a lead price of $1.05/lb.

The updated feasibility study was based on a mineral resource of 53-million tonnes a year, which includes an indicated mineral resource of 44.2-million tonnes.

The updated study compared with the original 2019 definitive feasibility study (DFS), which estimated a capital cost of $579-million to develop a four-million-tonne-a-year operation with a mine life of 12 years, producing some 310 000 t/y of zinc concentrate and 60 000 t/y of lead concentrate containing 164 000 t/y of zinc and 36 000 t/y of lead.

“Terramin is excited to be able to release the details of the Tala Hamza revised definitive feasibility study. The result is the outcome of steady and patient negotiations with our joint venture partners. It was important to engage and work consistently with our counterparts to ensure a robust long-life project that will be a flagship project in Algeria,” said Terramin CEO Richard Taylor.

“Location is everything with Tala Hamza, proximity to deep water ports, well developed infrastructure, cheap and reliable energy and an educated workforce makes this a potential world-class project,” he said.

“Getting the base case project at Tala Hamza permitted opens up optionality for expansion and exploration both within the existing area and further afield in a highly prospective emerging mining country which is looking to diversify from oil and gas.”

Based on the positive results from the DFS, and the expansion potential at Tala Hamza, Terramin is now progressing further optimisation studies and permitting in the 2018 calendar year. This was expected to allow the base case project to proceed in conjunction with studies into expansion cases.