Name of the Project
Manica Fair Bride gold project.
Location
Mozambique.
Client
Xtract Resources, through its wholly owned Mozambique subsidiary Explorator Limitada.
Project Description
Manica has total proven and probable reserves of 3.21-million tonnes grading 2.62 g/t gold, and total mineral resources of 13.95-million tonnes grading 176 g/t gold.
Contractor mining with conventional openpit mining methods using truck-and-excavator combinations will be used. The drill-and-blast technique will be used to mine harder material.
The material will be crushed in a three-stage crushing circuit before processing in a ball milling and classification circuit.
The project is expected to produce an estimated 215 293 oz of gold over its seven-year mine life.
Potential Job Creation
Not stated.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value, at an 8.4% discount rate, of $42-million and an internal rate of return of 41.1%, with a payback of two years.
Value
Project value is estimated at $43.68-million.
Duration
Not stated.
Latest Developments
Xtract Resources has reported substantial improvements in alluvial mining contractor gold production at its Manica alluvial operations.
Xtract is reviewing further contractors’ proposals for the western half of the concession.
Xtract executive chairperson Colin Bird has said the continued overall improvement in alluvial gold production in the prior quarter shows pleasing progress and the company hopes to build on this while looking forward to the second-quarter production results in mid-July.
“We are considering dividing the concession into north-south halves as opposed to east-west, since the river beds and terraces require different processing plant configuration.
“We are . . . identifying more hard rock mining positions, irrespective of whether the crop is oxide transition or sulphide, and concurrently evaluating the cost and time of operating the plant to treat all gold mineralisation types. The co-ownership of an all-purpose plant will position the collaboration agreement very strongly in the Manica area," he has noted.
Xtract, which has a hard rock collaboration agreement with Omnia Mining for the exploitation of hard rock deposits at the Manica concession, has uncovered concealed extensions to hard-rock exposure. Exposures have been channel-sampled and rock chips have been sent for assay sampling.
The parties are investigating the cost of upgrading the current plant to feed all types of oxidation from oxides to sulphides.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
Sino Minerals Investment (mining contractor agreement for alluvial gold deposits) and Omnia Mining and Moz Gold (mining contractor agreement for alluvial deposits).
On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
Xtract Resources, tel +44 20 3416 6471 or email info@xtractresources.com.