PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Metals developer Centaurus Metals was on the hunt for funding to implement a revised development strategy at its Candonga direct shipping ore (DSO) project, in Brazil, after resource financier RMB Resources abandoned ship.
The ASX-listed company has appointed Canaccord Genuity as lead manager in this hunt, the fruits of which would underpin the advancement of the Candonga DSO project and would fund exploration work at the nearby Conquista project to establish a maiden Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource.
It was hoped that production at Candonga would start in the second quarter of next year, at a rate of 300 000 t/y under a trial mining licence, which was lodged in April last year. Centaurus told shareholders that the licensing process was well advanced, and final approval of the trial mining licence was expected in the first quarter of 2015.
The project was expected to require a capital investment of A$3.6-million, and would have a life-of-mine cash cost of A$14.90/t.
With RMB terminating its debt mandate for the project, Centaurus said that it would now look at all funding options available in order to pursue the future development of the project.