Name and Location
Kwale mineral sands project, Kenya.

Client
Base Resources.

Project Description
The project is located about 50 km south of Mombasa and 10 km inland from the Indian Ocean. The Kwale processing plant is designed to process ore, recover ilmenite, rutile and zircon products and generate several reject streams.

A dozer-trap mining unit has been selected as the optimum mining method, instead of a large bucket wheel excavator.

A port facility will also be built at Likoni, 50 km north of the project site, on the southern side of the existing shipping channel that services the Port of Mombasa.

The project has a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant reserve of 140.6-million tons, grading at 4.9% total heavy minerals, of which 61% is in the proven category. Over the 13-year life-of-mine, the project is expected to produce about 4.7-million tons of product.

Value
The project is estimated to cost about $310-million.

Duration
Ore mining and production start-up is expected in July 2013, with production volumes averaging about 330 000 t/y of ilmenite, 79 000 t/y of rutile and 30 000 t/y of zircon over the first seven years of operations.

Latest Developments
Base Resources has produced its first ilmenite and rutile concentrate from the mineral separation plant at its Kwale mineral sands project.

Following the commissioning of the wet concentrator in early October, the first heavy-mineral concentrate has now been taken through the ilmenite and rutile circuits. Over the next few weeks, processing rates will be ramped up and inventories of rutile and ilmenite will be accumulated, ahead of the start of bulk shipments in January.

Construction work on the zircon circuit of the mineral separation plant is in its final stages and commissioning is expected in January.

The Likoni marine facility will also be completed in early December, well ahead of the first bulk shipment, Base said.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
SRK Consulting and Barclays Capital, Standard Chartered Bank, West LB and Caterpillar Finance (underwriters); Ausenco (main contractor – detailed design and engineering, and engineering, procurement and construction management contract); Actom (power station); and Lamco (port facility).

On Budget and on Time?
The project remains on schedule to make the first bulk product shipments in January 2014.

Contact Details for Project Information
Base Resources MD Tim Carstens, tel +61 8 9322 8910 or email tcarstens@baseresources.com.au.
SRK Consulting, tel +27 11 441 1111, fax +27 11 880 8086 or email johannesburg@srk.co.za.
Barclays Capital press office, tel +44 20 313 418 886 or email Corporate.Communications@barclayscapital.com.
Ausenco, tel +61 7 3169 7000, fax +61 7 3169 7001 or email investor.relations@ausenco.com.
Actom, tel +27 11 820 5111 or fax +27 11 820 5100.