Aquis Stock Exchange-listed Marula Mining has started site works at the Blesberg lithium and tantalum project, in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, to outline its capital requirements and long-term plans.
The company’s mining and processing consultant, Southern Metal Processing, is compiling a proposal for the retreatment of the existing stockpiles and preliminary design work for a longer-term hard rock mine, exploration plans and budgets, a mine health and safety plan and detailed capital and operating cost estimates.
This work will inform mining permit applications for two 5 ha areas, which extend over the areas with stockpiles for reprocessing. Marula is also applying for a wate management licence on a certain area of the property for the processing of the residual stockpile material.
On site, the company has started with perimeter fencing of the mining area, installation of access control gates, construction of administration offices and first aid facility buildings, upgrading of water storage and supply, connecting fixed line electricity supply and assessing areas for possible solar installation, and installation of mechanical and engineering workshops.
Marula has advised that it will publish an updated resource statement of the existing stockpiles on site, which includes lithium-bearing spodumene.
The Blesberg project has operated as a small-scale mining operation intermittently between 1925 and 2003. While the orebody contains a significant amount of lithium, the main minerals extracted and sold at the time were feldspar, mica and tantalum, with the lithium mineralisation either placed in stockpiles or discarded in the surface waste dumps – where it remains today.
The company plans on producing high-grade lithium from stockpiles by the end of the year.