Investment company Kazera Global’s 60%-owned subsidiary Whale Head Minerals has been granted a mining permit for the Walviskop heavy mineral sands (HMS) project, in South Africa’s Northern Cape province.
The five-year permit covers a 5 ha beach sand deposit, with the possibility of further extensions.
Kazera expects the mine to generate more than $300 000 of gross profit a month, for 6 000 t a month of HMS production. The project currently has an estimated mine life of five years.
The company says this development will have a substantial positive impact on the company’s profitability and the Richtersveld region.
Walviskop sits within the diamond mining operations of Kazera’s other South African subsidiary Deep Blue Minerals.
The Walviskop deposit has a mineral resource of 3.11-million tons of HMS grading 61.2%, predominantly consisting of garnet and ilmenite.
Whale Head has also applied for a prospecting right over an adjacent beach, which appears to share similar characteristics to Walviskop and is much larger.