JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Savannah Resources has submitted three applications to Mozambique’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy for mining leases for the Mutamba heavy mineral sands project.
Located in the Gaza and Inhambane provinces, Mutamba is being developed in a consortium with diversified mining major Rio Tinto.
The three applications, which cover 417.32 km², comprise the Jangamo, Dongane/ Ravene and Chilubane deposits.
Mining leases are generally awarded for a 25-year term and can be renewed.
The Ministry has six months from the date of submission to respond to the applications.
The submission of the mining lease applications was “a key milestone and a great start to 2018”, commented Savannah Resources CEO David Archer in a market update on Tuesday.
He stated that this was the final formal step in the process of securing long-term mining leases over globally significant deposits of heavy mineral sands. This step also follows the commissioning of the pilot processing plant in the fourth quarter of 2017, which will be used to produce concentrate as part of the prefeasibility study, which is currently under way.
“We believe our timing means we are well placed to take advantage of the increasing global demand for titanium feedstocks,” Archer noted.