Name and Location
Kipoi copper project, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Client
Tiger Resources.

Project Description
The Kipoi project covers 55 km² and is located 75 km north-northwest of the city of Lubumbashi, in Katanga. The project contains a 12 km sequence of mineralised roan sediments that host at least five known deposits – Kipoi Central, Kipoi North, Kileba, Judeira and Kaminafitwe.

Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resources have been reported at three of the deposits. The principal deposit is Kipoi Central, which contains a zone of high-grade copper mineralisation within a much larger, lower-grade global resource.

Tiger is following a phased development approach for the project.

The first stage of production allowed for the treatment of only high-grade oxide material (malachite) through a heavy-media separation (HMS) plant.

The HMS plant was wound down in the September 2014 quarter and superseded by the solvent extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) plant, which produced first cathode in May 2014 and reached nameplate production of 25 000 t/y in September 2014. The SX-EW facility will produce LME grade-A copper cathode directly at the mine site.

The SX-EW plant can potentially be expanded to 32 500 t/y.

It is envisaged that ore from the Judeira deposit, and other deposits within the Kipoi project area and the nearby 100%-owned Lupoto project, will also be processed during Stage 2 operations, providing additional returns and increasing the mineral resources available as feedstock to the Stage 2 SX-EW plant. Increased resources will potentially increase the nine-year mine life demonstrated in the feasibility study and/or the yearly plant throughput.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
The SX-EW Phase 2 expansion is budgeted at an estimated $25-million.

Duration
The debottlenecking works are expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2016, with full increased capacity expected in 2017.

Latest Developments
Tiger Resources has confirmed that the first drawdown of the $162.5-million long-term finance facility with Taurus Mining Finance Fund  and International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, was completed on schedule on January 29, 2016, with an initial amount of $133.2-million drawn.

The facility drawdown refinanced the previous secured debt facilities with Taurus (bridge facility) and Gerald Metals, and the balance of the facility provides expansion capital for the debottlenecking initiative to increase the capacity of the Kipoi SXEW plant to 32 500 t/y.
The first scheduled repayment of the debt principal is due on January 31, 2017, so that senior debt service obligations will be of interest only until that date.

Meanwhile, Tiger executed letters of intent with the principal contractor for the electrowinning and tank leach expansion projects during the December 2015 quarter, and these were placed within the capital expenditure estimate of $25-million in the engineering and costing study.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
MCK Mining (mining contract – Stage 1); DRA Mineral Projects (lump-sum turnkey contract for the design, installation and commissioning of the HMS – Stage 1); Group Five (subcontractor – construction works for Stage 1); Arccon Mining Services (scoping study); Cube Consulting (pit optimisations); Coffey Mining (tailings dam – design and costing) and Senet (SX-EW plant).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Tiger Resources investor relations, Nathan Ryan, tel +61 420 582 887 or email nryan@tigerez.com.
DRA Mineral Projects, tel +27 11 202 8600, fax +27 11 202 8807 or email dra@drasa.co.za.
Group Five, tel +27 11 806 0111, fax +27 11 803 5520 or email info@groupfive.co.za.
Arccon Mining Services, tel +61 8 9340 6100, fax +61 8 9340 6150 or email mining@arccon.com.au.
Cube Consulting (South Africa), tel +27 12 665 2154, fax +27 27 665 1176 or email highveld@cubeconsulting.com.
Coffey Mining (South Africa), tel +27 11 679 3331 or fax +27 11 679 3272.
Senet, tel +27 11 409 1300 or fax +27 11 409 1301.