JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – An independent test report from inspection, verification, testing and certification company SGS South Africa, has detailed grading analysis sampling results and confirmed the applicability of dense media separation (DMS) at Aim-listed Cradle Arc’s flagship asset, the Mowana copper mine, in Botswana.
DMS is considered a low capital expenditure expansion option to potentially increase production at Mowana to about 22 000 t/y of copper in concentrate and could increase throughput to about 2.6-million tonnes a year.
Testwork has demonstrated that DMS preconcentration can be deployed at Mowana on all low-oxide ores.
Based on the outcome of this testwork, Cradle Arc intends to move forward with a development plan for the upgrades to the Mowana processing plant.
“Our expectation that DMS upgrades should be deployed at Mowana has been confirmed by SGS’s report. We are now focused on working closely with our selected contractors to finalise the budget and implement the strategy to upgrade the processing plant,” CEO Kevin van Wouw said in a statement on Wednesday.
He added that this would dramatically improve cash flows and the project’s net present value.
“Concurrent with this work, we are generating a new block model for the resource at Mowana, which will allow us to complete new mining schedules incorporating these results, as well as the additional knowledge gained from our re-logging exercise. We expect both work streams to be completed during this quarter, allowing the upgrade project to move forward expeditiously.”