PERTH (miningweekly.com) – An initial optimisation study into the Tala Hamza zinc/lead project, in Algeria, has flagged a substantial increase in production rates, ASX-listed Terramin Australia said on Tuesday.
Terramin, which owns a 65% interest in the project, reported that the initial optimisation study had identified the potential for an additional eight-million tonnes of indicated resource to be included in production, representing an increase of about 30% of the total Tala Hamza reserve tonnage.
The study also anticipated a production rate increase from 1.32-million tonnes a year to 2-million tonnes a year, with the mine life decreasing to only 19 years, compared with the 21 years predicted in the 2018 definitive feasibility study (DFS).
“The results of initial optimisation study work have been very promising. The opportunity to potentially treat more of the resource, increase throughput and bring forward production into the first ten years of operation can be expected to present significant upside,” said Terramin CEO Richard Taylor.
Compared with the 2018 DFS, pre-production capital requirements under the initial optimisation study have increased from $341.4-million to $360-million.
“The compelling results have encouraged us to expedite optimisation to capture the project’s full potential. Tala Hamza is a world-class deposit that will enter production at a time where the market is feeling the effect of systemic under-investment in new supply,” said Taylor.