Name of the Project
T3 openpit copper/silver project.

Location
The project is located on the Kalahari copperbelt, in northern Botswana.

Client
MOD Resources (70%) and Metal Tiger (30%).

Project Description
The T3 prefeasibility study (PFS) has confirmed the project as a robust, long-life copper mine. The project has total proven and probable reserves of 21.43-million tonnes grading 1.02% copper and 10.3 parts per million silver.

The PFS comprises openpit mining and conventional flotation processing, with two production scenarios – the PFS base case and the PFS expanded case.
Mining and process engineering studies for the PFS base case have used a revised processing rate of 2.5-million tonnes a year, a 25% increase on the scoping study production target announced in December 2017.

In the PFS base case, the ore reserves are mined from a four-stage openpit with a waste:ore ratio of 4:76. Ore will be processed through a conventional semiautogenous (SAG)/ball mill and flotation circuit, powered for the first two years by a diesel generation plant before switching to grid power.

The expansion case considers mining and processing at a rate of 2.5-million tonnes a year for the first three years in accordance with the PFS base case. The process plant will be upgraded to process four-million tonnes a year during the fourth year.

Mining will be from a five-stage openpit with a waste:ore ratio of 4:28. The optimised pit has been modelled in accordance with the PFS base case, except for the inclusion of inferred mineral resources and the reduction in processing costs, owing to grid power.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The PFS base case has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $281-million and an internal rate of return of 39%, with a payback of 2.7 years from the start of production. The PFS expansion case has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $402-million and an internal rate of return of 37%, with a payback of 3.3 years from the start of production.

Value
The total initial development capital cost of the PFS base case is estimated at $154.86-million, which includes project contingency of $17.1-million. The total initial development capital cost of the PFS expansion case is estimated at $191.6-million, which includes project contingency of $17.1-million.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Botswana’s Department of Environmental Affairs has approved the environmental management plan (EMP) for a drilling campaign to test numerous high-priority targets along the T3 project’s 50-km-long T3 Dome.

The T3 Dome EMP is subject to a four-week public review period, with drilling planned to start in May using four drill rigs, in addition to the three rigs currently drilling at T3.

The approval of the EMP for the T3 Dome is a key development for the JV, opening an additional 680 km2 of the prospective T3 Dome for drilling.

The company also plans to test the ten high-priority anomalies already identified by a previous airborne geophysics and soil sampling programme.

These high-priority target anomalies represent an opportunity for the discovery of additional satellite copper deposits, which could augment or supplement the potential offered by developing the T3 openpit resource and its potential underground extensions.  

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
MOD Resources, tel +61 8 9322 8233 or email administrator@modresources.com.au.
Metal Tiger, tel +44 207 099 0738 or email info@metaltigerplc.com.