Name and location
Munali nickel project, Zambia.

Project description
The planned project is based solely on the Enterprise deposit, which is located at the south-east corner of the Munali intrusion. The Enterprise project is designed to produce about 8 500 t/y of nickel in concentrate from a 900 000-t/y underground mining operation, involving straightforward extraction methods and conventional processing technology.

The underground mining operation accessed through a shallow (25-m-deep) boxcut excavation leading to a nominal 5-m x 5,5-m decline at a gradient of 1 in 7, providing access to the ore at 22,5-m sublevels.

The planned mine design uses highly mechanised up-hole benching and long-hole open-stope mining methods, resulting in efficient ore extraction and low mining costs. These mining methods allow for mining from the top down, which maximises the early production of the ore.

The ore will be processed through a conventional flotation concentrator.

Value
$65-million. The development of the project will be funded by a combination of debt and equity financing.

Duration
Site works started in September 2006 and the project is expected to be commissioned in 2008.

Breakdown of main contracts
None stated.

Client
Albidon.

Latest developments
The construction of the project is now 95% complete, with the first concentrate production expected by the end of April.

The project started production of its first ore from development in January 2008, several months ahead of schedule. At the end of March, there were some 25 000 t of ore stockpiled on the run-of-mine (RoM) pad in readiness for the start-up of the crushing and milling circuit.

There are now eight ore drives being developed and delivering ore to the RoM pad.

Construction of the Munali project plant and associated infrastructure has also continued to press forward ahead of the previously advised schedule. In the crushing circuit hot commissioning has started.

The milling, flotation, thickening and filtration circuits are expected to be completed shortly, at which time their hot commissioning will also start. Meanwhile, Albidon has completed a review of the Munali concentrator to assess the viability of increasing the mill throughput and, therefore, nickel production yearly.

The optimisation study has concluded that the present concentrator can be upgraded from the existing nameplate capacity of 900 000 t/y, to 1,2-million tons a year, with a capital investment of $2,5-million. It has been decided to start this work immediately so that the company can take advantage of the construction personnel currently on site. It is expected that mill capacity will reach a rate of 1,2-million tons a year by January 2009.

Participants
None stated.

Construction materials
Not stated.

On budget and on time?
Too early to state.

Contact details for project information
Albidon, tel +61 8 9211 4600 or
fax +61 8 9211 4699.