Name and Location
Mabilo copper/gold project, Luzon, Philippines.

Client
Mabilo Joint Venture (JV), a collaboration between Mt Labo Exploration & Development Corporation and Galeo Equipment Corporation, in the Philippines.

Project Description
The Mabilo project has a probable mineral reserve of 7.92-million tonnes grading 2.04 g/t of gold, 1.95% copper, 8.9% silver and 45.5% iron.

The independent feasibility study (FS) completed on the project envisages the project to be executed in two key stages. The FS is based on a treatment rate of one-million tonnes a year.

Mining is planned to be conducted using openpit methods.

Stage 1 is intended to minimise initial capital requirements through a direct shipping ore (DSO) operation of an exceptionally high-grade, near-surface oxide portion of the Mabilo resource.

Stage 1 will mine the oxide ore to 95 m below surface.

Three main products will be produced during this stage:
• gold cap ore will be crushed on site and trucked to a nearby existing carbon-in-leach processing plant. The plant is planned to be upgraded to 300 000 t/y throughput and will likely be operated by the Mabilo JV personnel; and
• oxide skarn and high-grade supergene chalcocite will be crushed on site and transported to the existing Larup port, within 40 km, for direct shipping.
Stage 2 involves the processing of primary ore through a purpose-built plant on site, based on an initial one-million-tonne-a-year throughput, and then upgraded and optimised for a planned 1.35-million tonnes a year.

The Mabilo process plant is planned to be built in parallel with the oxide mining phase and the Stage 2 permitting process.

The treatment plant design incorporates:
• single-stage open circuit primary crushing to produce a crushed product size of 80% passing (P80) 120 mm;
• a crushed-ore surge bin with a nominal capacity of 120 t. Surge bin overflow will be conveyed to a dead stockpile of 20 000 t, while ore from the dead stockpile will be reclaimed by a front-end loader to feed the mill during periods when the crushing circuit is offline;
• ore-grinding in a semiautogenous mill circuit, in closed circuit with hydrocyclones to produce a P80 grind size of 90 μm;
• bulk sulphide flotation to recover copper sulphides and gold-bearing pyrite;
• a two-stage cleaner flotation to recover copper sulphides into a copper concentrate and pyrite into a product
for sale;
• concentrate thickening and pressure filtration to produce a copper concentrate filter cake;
• pyrite thickening and pressure filtration to produce a pyrite concentrate filter cake.
• magnetic separation of the bulk sulphide tails to recover magnetite into concentrate;
• concentrate thickening and pressure filtration to produce a magnetite concentrate filter cake; and
• combined tailings pumping to the tailings storage facility.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an internal rate of return of 33.45%, with a payback of 2.5 years.

Value
The capital expenditure required for the Stage 1 DSO operation is estimated at $17.35-million. Total primary costs for the Stage 2 primary plant is estimated at $161.37-million.

Duration
The Mabilo process plant will take about 15 months to build.

Latest Developments
Mt Labo is in the final stages of obtaining the necessary operating permits for the first stage of production, with timing ultimately depending on the regulatory processes in the Philippines.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
RTG Mining president and CEO Justine Magee, tel +61 8 6489 2900, fax +61 8 6489 2920 or
email jmagee@rtgmining.com.