PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Gulf Manganese has inked two ore supply agreements with manganese mining companies in Timor, to secure feedstock to start operations at the Kupang smelting facility, in Indonesia.
A further supply agreement was expected shortly, Gulf said on Tuesday, allowing the Kupang start-up to take place in early 2018.
“Gulf continues to make solid progress in the development of the Kupang smelting hub facility, and the signing of these key ore supply agreements further underpins the project’s development,” said MD Hamish Bohannan.
“Establishing these initial supply channels further validates our operational team’s ability to successfully negotiate these contracts with local parties, and provides a clear pathway to the start-up of smelting operations early next year.”
Meanwhile, Gulf noted that the refurbishment of the first two smelting furnaces was progressing on track, with the furnaces to be shipped from South Africa to Kupang in the fourth quarter of this year.