Name of the Project
Kamativi lithium tailings project.

Location
The project is located outside the village of Kamativi, in the Matabeleland North province of Zimbabwe.

Client
Kamativi Tailings Company, a joint venture between the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (40%), the owners of Kamativi Tin Mines, and Jimbata (60%).

Chimata Gold Corporation announced in February that it had entered into a binding letter of intent (LoI) with Zimbabwe Lithium Company (ZIM), a privately held company incorporated under the laws of Mauritius. In terms of the LoI, Chimata will subscribe to share capital of ZIM for an initial subscription of 19% of ZIM’s share capital in exchange for the allocation by Chimata of an amount of shares representing 19% of its then outstanding share capital to ZIM. 

Chimata has the right to further acquire the remaining issued and outstanding share capital of ZIM upon fulfilling certain terms and conditions set out in the LoI, resulting in ZIM becoming a subsidiary of Chimata.

On the positive outcome of a National Instrument (NI) 43-101 technical report, Chimata and ZIM will enter into a definitive agreement. 

This will enable Chimata, on completion of a mineral resources estimate undertaken in accordance with an NI 43-101 and the fulfilment of the requirements as set out in the LoI, to acquire 100 % equity ownership of ZIM. This would give Chimata ownership over ZIM’s equity interests. ZIM is a 100 % equity owner of Jimbata.

Project Description
The Kamativi project comprises the tailings dump derived from the historical tin mining conducted within mining lease No 12 at the now disused Kamativi tin mine between 1936 and 1994.

Based on the testwork completed to date, a likely process flowsheet to produce a concentrate will include:

• hydromining of the deposit;
• classification of the material at 400 to 500 μm by screening equipment or cycloning;
• processing of the coarse material fraction in a dense-media separation (DMS) plant (DMS cyclones);
• cleaning of the DMS concentrate by using wet high-intensity magnetic separation (WHIMS) technology;
• processing of the fine material fraction using flotation; and
• cleaning the flotation concentration by means of WHIMS technology.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The results of work completed on the project to date warrant further exploration.

Further exploration work will include:

an auger drilling and sampling programme over the tailings dumps to inform a mineral resource estimate. All assay work should be done in conjunction with density determinations of the tailings; and XRD analysis to understand the distribution of the lithium mineralogy within the tailings;

advanced metallurgical testwork considering possible variations in grade and mineralogy identified in the drilling programme and optimise the gravity process, flotation, grind size, and removal of the iron from the final concentrate; and

finalising of the location of the new tailings disposal facility and proposed process plant. This will need to be done in conjunction with the environmental-impact assessment report.

This will cost an estimated $500 000 to complete.

A bankable feasibility study in a 400 t/h DMS/flotation plant is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
The MSA Group (NI 43-101 technical report).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Chimata Gold Corpororation, tel +1 604 674 3145.