ASX-listed resource company Blackthorn Resources announced the results of the optimised prefeasibility study (OPFS) for its Kitumba copper project, in Zambia, in April this year.

The company’s 100%-owned Mumbwa project, in Zambia, hosts its flagship Kitumba deposit, as well as other prospective targets, including the Kakozhi prospect.

The OPFS significantly enhanced the project’s economics and development potential and Blackthorn Resources confirmed that it would progress to a definitive feasibility study (DFS).

Prior to engaging a study manager for the DFS, the company will be conducting a comprehensive drilling campaign of about 12 000 m in and around the Kitumba mineral resource to assist in the DFS-level studies for both the proposed mine and the process plant design.

Metallurgical Testing
The Kitumba mineable reserve contains a range of primary and secondary copper minerals, with varying copper grades and mineralogy.

The drilling for the collection of metallurgical samples has, therefore, been designed with this in mind, to ensure that the right type and volume of samples are collected to enable the impact of orebody variability to be appropriately assessed by the testwork programme.

Variability testwork on a range of ore blends representing the changing spatial distribution of minerals throughout the deposit is planned to provide data on the range of metallurgical performance expected for the proposed flow sheet.

The proposed testwork programme will comprise three discrete phases. The first phase will entail batch optimisation testwork to confirm the optimum grind size and leach parameters for the subsequent variability testwork.

The second phase involves a batch variability testwork programme on samples selected to represent run-of-mine feed from the mine draw points on a time basis. This will provide information on the expected plant performance over the life of the Kitumba orebody.

The final phase will see Blackthorn Resources run a pilot plant programme of sufficient duration to evaluate the proposed flow sheet in continuous operation.