Name of the Project
T3 copper project.

Location
Botswana.

Project Owner/s
Sandfire Resources.

Project Description
The T3 copper project feasibility study has presented compelling results.

The project is based on the T3 resource and the T3 openpit is modelled on the T3 ore reserve. The project’s ore reserve contains 342 700 t copper and 14.6-million ounces of silver. The feasibility study envisages an 11.5-year openpit mine, three-million-tonne-a-year conventional processing plant and all associated infrastructure.

The proposed six-stage openpit will use conventional equipment to support an average mining rate of three-million tonnes a year of ore, with a life-of-mine (LoM) strip ratio of 5.7:1.

Ore will be processed through a conventional process plant with a yearly throughput of up to 3.2-million tonnes at a head grade of 1% copper and 13.2 g/t silver. The flowsheet includes a primary crusher/semiautogenous grinding/ball mill comminution circuit to achieve a grind size of P80 180 m, a natural pH flotation circuit, rougher flotation with a regrind circuit to achieve a grind size of P80 90μm and a cleaner flotation circuit.

Average yearly production over the LoM is expected to be about 28 000 t of copper and 1.1-million ounces of silver; however, for the first seven full years of production (from 2021 to 2028), plant throughput, feed grades and recoveries are expected to be higher than the LoM average and support copper production averaging more than 30 000 t.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $368-million and an internal rate of return of 33%, with a payback of 3.7 years from the start of production.

Capital Expenditure
Capital expenditure is estimated at $182-million and includes mine development, the process plant and mine infrastructure.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Sandfire Resources is hopeful of taking a board-level decision on the T3 copper project before the end of 2020, with the project likely to produce its first copper concentrate by early 2023.

Sandfire CEO and MD Karl Simich told the Africa Downunder Conference, in Perth, that the updated feasibility study for the T3 project was due in the next few weeks.

While the updated study will be based on a base case of 3.2-million tonnes a year of ore production, it will provide a platform for the introduction of a larger 5.2-million-tonne-a-year expansion case with the addition of the A4 deposit, Simich has said.

He has noted that Sandfire was investigating the creation of a multimine, multidecade hub of operations in Botswana, with several drill targets already identified that could potentially expand the mine life of the operation.

Sandfire is expected to spend about A$18-million on exploration in Botswana in the next financial year.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Loci Environmental (environmental consultant).

Contact Details for Project Information
Sandfire Resources, tel +61 8 6430 3800.