Name of the Project
Kalongwe copper/cobalt project.

Location
The project is located in the Kolwezi region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Client
The project is owned by Kalongwe Mining SA under a joint venture agreement between Nzuri Copper (85%), La Generale Industrielle et Commerciale au Congo (10%) and the DRC government (5%).

Project Description
Nzuri Copper has completed an updated feasibility study for the proposed Stage 1 development of the Kolongwe project.

The updated feasibility study has significantly increased the key financial metrics of the project using revised cobalt pricing of $81 500/t and a different point of delivery – Kolwezi as opposed to Lubumbashi. Further, it includes an updated Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant reserve of 7.99-million tonnes, grading 2.94% copper and 0.34% cobalt for 234 868 t of contained copper and 27 102 t of contained cobalt.

The project scope and capital requirements for Stage 1 have remained unchanged. These comprise an openpit mine and on-site one-million-tonne-a-year dense-media separation (DMS) processing plant to produce two high-quality dry saleable concentrate products suitable as a feedstock for off-site solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) processing.

Incorporating the revised pricing and point of delivery, the project is forecast to produce 137 848 t/y of DMS and spiral concentrate products, equivalent to average metal production of 18 657 t/y of copper and 1 370 t/y of cobalt over an eight-year mine life.

The updated feasibility study assumes the transportation of concentrate 77 km by road to Kolwezi.

A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of SX-EW processing has also been completed, which highlights further potential increases to the returns and mine life from higher copper/cobalt output and revenue.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value (NPV), at a 10% discount rate, of $186-million, compared with the initial 2017 feasibility study pretax NPV, at a 10% discount rate, of $116-million.

The internal rate of return (IRR) has been estimated at 99%, compared with the initial 2017 feasibility study IRR of 71%.

The updated Stage 1 feasibility study has estimated project payback of 17 months, compared with the initial 2017 feasibility study project payback of 21 months.

Value
The capital expenditure has remained the same for the updated feasibility study and the initial 2017 feasibility study at $53.12-million.

Duration
The project is expected to take about 12 months to construct.

Latest Developments
Nzuri Copper has received the results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on potential expansion options for the Kalongwe Stage 2 project. This study has focused on potential SX-EW processing options for the deposit and incorporates an updated ore reserve estimate. Six processing options have been considered.

Option1 – DMS as per the feasibility study, and a full SX-EW and cobalt circuit to process cobalt-only ore from Year 3 onwards. This option has an estimated capital expenditure of $130-million, an NPV of $230-million and an IRR of 79%. Option 2 – DMS as per the feasibility study, and a full SX-EW and cobalt circuit to process DMS-generated concentrate/s. This option has an estimated capital expenditure of $180-million, an NPV of $240-million and an IRR of 70%. Option 3 – DMS as per the feasibility study, and a full SX-EW and cobalt circuit to process DMS-generated mineralised rejects from Year 3 onwards. This option has an estimated capital expenditure of $270-million, an NPV of $260-million and an IRR of 90%.

Option 4 – DMS as per the feasibility, and a full SX-EW and cobalt circuit to process DMS-generated mineralised rejects and cobalt-only ore from Year 8 onwards. This option has an estimated capital expenditure of $270-million, an NPV of $340-million and an IRR of 91%.

Option 5 – whole-of-ore leach (WoL) using SX-EW, with no DMS. This option has an estimated capital expenditure of $270-million, an NPV of $630-million and an IRR of 57%.

Option 6 – DMS replaced by a WoL and cobalt circuit from Year 4 onwards. This option has an estimated capital expenditure of $310-million, an NPV of $390-million and an IRR of 66%. Option 4 has been selected for further evalua-tion as a potential Stage 2 to the DMS construction.

This Stage 2 expansion option, which can be funded from cash flows from the Stage 1 DMS, will be incorporated into the recently started front-end engineering design (FEED) programme for Stage 1.

The FEED programme, which is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of this year, is expected to run concurrently with the evaluation of development and funding solutions.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Orelogy (ore reserve estimate) and Lycopodium Minerals (PEA).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Nzuri Copper, tel +61 8 6424 8100 or email info@nzuricopper.com.au.