PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mineral sands miner Base Resources has reported a mineral resource estimate of 171-million tonnes, grading an average of 1.5% heavy minera,s for 2.6-million tonnes of heavy minerals at the Kwale North Dune, at its Kwale operations, in Kenya.
Mining at the Kwale operation is currently being undertaken from the Central Dune and South Dune deposits, with Base saying on Wednesday that the North Dune deposit could potentially add to the mine life of the operation.
With the expectation that the North Dune deposit would support a modest extension of the Kwale operation, Base is now planning further drilling to allow for a better understanding of the resource, and a study phase has started to assess the economics of a potential mine life extension.
This work will be done in parallel with the ongoing drilling at the Vanga and Kwale East zones.
The North Dune deposit was acquired by Base as part of the acquisition of the Kwale project in 2010, but was excluded from the project’s mineral resource on the basis of grade, and the prevailing economic conditions at the time.
However, Base in 2018 took the decision to re-evaluate the deposit in light of the improved economic conditions, refined resource definition methodology and with the insight gained from five years of operating the Central Dune.