JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Weatherly International has named construction firm Basil Read Namibia, processing specialists B & E International North and engineering consultants Logiman as its key contractors for the construction of its flagship Tschudi copper project, in Nambia.
This followed the company’s September 19 announcement that it had finalised a $91-million loan facility with mining financier Orion Mine Finance, which would enable Weatherly to fully fund to production the 17-million-ton-a-year project.
“The final negotiations to secure the loan for Tschudi took longer than originally anticipated, but we were able to make significant operational progress on Tschudi during these negotiations. Appointing the contractors takes us one step closer to getting Tschudi into production,” CEO Rod Webster said in a statement.
Basil Read subsidiary Basil Read Nambia would be responsible for the mining operations, while B & E International had been awarded the crushing, agglomeration and stacking contract.
“The agreement with Logiman is for a fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction contract valued at R641-million which, at today's exchange rate, is consistent with the cost estimated in the December feasibility study,” commented Webster.
The company further said it was close to finalising a power supply agreement with Namibian utility NamPower, as well as a long-term acid supply agreement with Protea Chemicals, which would be executed post-drawdown of the recently concluded loan.
A 2012 bankable feasibility study on the Tschudi project has indicated a robust project offering a mineral resource of 50.1-million tonnes at 0.86% copper and a reserve of 22.7-million tonnes at 0.95% copper.