Feasibility studies on copper/cobalt tailings

Bateman Minerals & Industrial Limited (BMI) has completed a pre-feasibility study for International Panorama Resource Corp. (IPRC) on the economic viability of exploiting the cobalt/copper tailings at old existing mines at Kakande and Kambove in the Shaba region of Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire).

The tailings are owned by La Generale des Carrieres et des Mines (Gecamines), the state-owned mining company, which has entered into a joint venture with IPRC to develop resources which prove to be economically viable.

The study revealed that whereas the cobalt and copper could be recovered economically from the tailings at Kakanda by means of SX/EW (solvent extraction and electrowinning), those at Kambove were not viable because of high acid consumption. As a result, Gecamines has agreed to provide IPRC with an additional 2,1 million tonne of tailings from planned new hardrock processing to augment the approximately 18,4 million tonne of exploitable tailings at Kakanda. It is estimated that it will take IPRC between eight and nine years to re-process these tailings after which further hardrock resources will be made available to it for processing.

IPRC appointed several agencies to conduct different aspects of the study. BMI managed both the pre-feasibility and feasibility studies and coordinated the results. Dump and Dune drilled and surveyed the tailings dumps at Kakanda and Kambove and arranged for its subsidiary, Performance Laboratories in RSA, to analyse the cores and estimate the volume of the exploitable resource. Based on this data an independent evaluation was made by Steffen, Robertson and Kirsten (SRK), which also conducted an environmental assessment. Mintek undertook laboratory and pilot plant work and confirmation assays of the core sample analyses.

The pre-feasibility study commenced in February 1997 and the study report which was submitted at the end of April is being used by IPRC to raise additional funds.

BMI was contracted by IPRC to produce the feasibility study and BMI sub-contracted aspects to TECHPRO. BMI was responsible for the process and instrumentation engineering, estimating the construction cost of the plant and the preparation of the feasibility study report. TECHPRO was responsible for the technical reports, drawings and quantities for the engineering disciplines, with the exception of the process and instrumentation engineering.

The feasibility study commenced in May and has been completed. IPRC intend using the report to raise the funds for the project.

For more details, please contact Vincent Diesel, BMI Director, Special Projects, on +27-11-899-3213 or
email basemetals@batemanengineering.com.

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