Name and Location
Al Hadeetha copper/gold project, Oman.

Client
Al Hadeetha Resources, a 70:30 joint venture between Alara Oman Operation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alara Resources and Al Hadeetha Investment Services, a privately owned Omani Company.

Project Description
A feasibility study on the Al Hadeetha project has concluded that the project is a technically feasible and financially robust mining operation.

The project is currently based around the Washihi copper/gold deposit.

The study estimates that the project could deliver 34 000 t/y of concentrate production and have a mine life of more than ten years.

The process plant is designed to process one-million tonnes of copper- and gold-bearing mineralised material a year.

It includes primary crushing, grinding, hydrocyclones, rougher flotation, regrind and cleaner flotation, concentrate thickener, filtration and load-out, as well as tailings slurry pumping to a tailings dam.

The primary crusher will operate at 269 t/h.

The process plant will operate at a throughput rate of 142 t/h.

The availability of grinding and floatation circuits, as well as concentrate thickening, tailings thickening and tailings filtering will be 90%.

Equipment will include a 110 kW/h jaw crusher, a 2 250 kW/h semiautogenous mill, a 1 600 k/h ball mill, a 90 kW/h cone crusher, rougher scavenger flotation cells, a 400 kW/h regrind ball mill, cleaner flotation cells, a concentrate thickener, a filtration unit and a dryer. Heavy-duty slurry pumps will be used for pumping tailings to the tailings dam.

The plant will also feature a modern computer network system, network communications with real-time monitoring, a top-of-the-range assay laboratory, reagent storage and mixing, workshops, a plant office, a safety shower and a laundry facility.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value of $37.8-million and an internal rate of return of 21%.

Value
Preproduction capital expenditure is estimated at $49.39-million tonnes.

Duration
The project is expected to take one year to complete and to start production as early as the third quarter of 2017.

Latest Developments
The company has set itself an ambitious target to advance the project to financial close within the next six months.

Regardless of when the project starts, construction can be completed within 12 months.

Al Hadeetha’s mining licence application has already passed several ‘no objection’ hurdles from various government authorities and can subsequently advance as a result of the feasibility study.

Project financing options, including discussions with qualified parties for vendor finance and equity investment at project level, are also under way.

Subject to a successful outcome on these matters, production from the Al Hadeetha project is scheduled to start in the third-quarter of 2017.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Alara Resources tel +61 8 9481 0389, +61 8 9463 6103 or email info@alararesources.com.