Name of the Project
RHA tungsten underground mine restart.

Location
Zimbabwe.

Client
Premier African Minerals.

Project Description
The RHA tungsten mine has a significant underground operation, which is currently under care and maintenance.

Premier aims to re-establish production at RHA, with a technical and economic assess­ment proposing two production scenarios: underground production at a production rate of 6 000 t/m to 7 000 t/m or underground and openpit mining at a production rate of 6 000 t/m and 34 000 t respectively, with a plant processing rate of 40 000 t/m.

Premier is currently considering only the first option as a basis for restarting production at RHA. Existing resource estimates in the underground areas of RHA, excluding any openpit resources, indicate a mine life of more than ten years. In the underground production scenario, the mine life modelled has been limited to an initial 15 months of mining, including a month of rehabilitation for the underground mine and three months of development before the start of stoping. The reason for this limit at this time is that the results of drilling currently under way will guide the future underground development and mining rate.

The initial tungsten production is modelled to 2 700 t/m from underground mining, with the company incrementally increasing this to a steady-state production of 6 000 t in month 14. RHA also has a sizable historic tailings deposits accumulated during historical production in the 1970s. The potential simultaneous processing of tailings and underground ore has also been examined in-house by Premier and has not been independently reviewed.

The company undertook an assessment to determine the tungsten resources contained in the tailings and conducted a comprehensive sampling programme to determine the size fraction, grade and potential in situ resource. The results of the sampling programme concluded that 86.1% of the material was above 45 µm, which is a suitable size for gravity concentration. The company has estimated that it can produce a tonne of concentrate from the tailings for 59% tungsten. These results have not yet been independently reviewed. Considering these favourable economics, the company has concluded that it should combine the reprocessing of these tailings with underground mining operations as and when they restart.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
The total underground mining cost, according to the economic and technical assessment, is estimated at $1.06-million.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Premier is undertaking a comprehensive drilling programme, which is likely to significantly expand the declared resource and increase the resource confidence in the under-ground mine.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Bara Consulting (technical and economic assessment).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Premier African Minerals, email info@premierafricanminerals.com.