Name: Munali mine.
Location: Munali is located 70 km south of Lusaka, in Southern Zambia.
Mine Owner/s: Consolidated Nickel Mines (CNM) acquired full operational control of the Munali mine and the adjacent exploration area in 2015 through a ten-year lease and royalty agreement with Jinchuan, with an option to extend the lease for a further ten years.
In 2019, co-owners CE Mining assumed full operational control and appointed an entirely new, strengthened management team.
Brief Description: The Munali mine comprises a fully developed and operational mine and processing plant.
Brief History: The Munali mine was placed on care and maintenance in 2011, when the nickel price fell.
CNM became the new operators of the Munali nickel mine in 2014, which was restarted in 2019.
Primary Metals/Minerals: Nickel.
Secondary Metals/Minerals: Copper and platinum-group metals.
Geology/Mineralisation: The deposit is of the "gabbro-hosted" class of nickel sulphide deposits and, as such, the geology and style of mineralisation are broadly similar to that of other gabbro deposits, such as Tati, in Botswana, and Sally Malay, in Australia. Geologists believe that the mineralisation is associated with mafic to ultramafic intrusions that have been emplaced along major regional faults, with the type example being the Munali gabbro intruded along the Munali fault.
Reserves: Not stated.
Resources: Total mineral resources are estimated at 6.01-million tonnes grading 1% nickel.
Mining Method: Optimised mechanised mining.
Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The mine comprises an underground mining operation extracting nickel sulphide ore, dense-media separation technology and a standard flotation circuit to produce a 10% to 2% nickel concentrate.
Prospects: CNM is implementing further concentrator optimisations, including a dedicated copper/platinum group metals circuit and float automation to improve recoveries. Longer-term, further value-add may be achieved through nickel sulphate or nickel metal production, which attracts a premium.
Contact Details:
CNM
Tel +44 20 3326 1601
Email info@cnmplc.co.uk
Website http://www.cnmplc.co.uk