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 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
MOD Resources has reported a 44% increase in the T3 mineral resource, following recent exploration at the planned pit.

The mineral resource at T3 is now estimated at 60-million tonnes, grading 0.98% copper and 14 g/t silver, for 590 000 t of copper and 27-million ounces of silver.

MOD MD Julian Hanna has said that the revised resource has far exceeded expectations and, as a result, MOD’s project development team is reviewing how the expanded resource could impact on the T3 project.

“As a minimum, this upgrade would appear to support the compelling expansion case pit model announced in the prefeasibility study, which is based on average production of 28 000 t/y of copper over a 12 year mine life.

“We are very encouraged by the new resource and believe there is potential that production and mine life could be extended beyond the expansion case,” Hanna has said.

The new resource also provides confidence in the potential for significant discoveries that could exist in similar ‘buried domes’ within the T3 Dome complex, where a major drilling campaign is under way.

A feasibility study for the T3 project is due for completion at the end of the first quarter in 2019.

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.