African Eagle Resources plc
WHITTLE OPTIMISATION REPORT, DUTWA NICKEL PROJECT, TANZANIA
African Eagle Resources
plc (AIM: AFE; AltX AEA) is pleased to announce that
it has received a report on Whittle Optimisation for
its Dutwa nickel project in Tanzania. The optimisation, by independent mining consultancy Snowden
Mining Industry Consultants, provided mining and processing schedules for the
new financial model and a mining plan for use in determining the mining costs
at Dutwa.
The study showed that
mining costs will be low, with a strip ratio approximately 0.5 to 1, and
concluded that on current evidence, the Dutwa Project
is likely to be economically viable, irrespective of whether agitated tank
leach or heap leach is eventually chosen as the process route.
African Eagle's Managing
Director Mark Parker comments: "This is an important component of our
planning for Dutwa Nickel Mine and one of the key
inputs to our financial modelling. It is encouraging
that a large fraction of the resource reports to inventory, even at the low
long-term nickel price which we assumed at this stage".
As announced in December,
African Eagle and its contractors have built and populated a new financial
model for the Dutwa Nickel Project. As part of this
exercise, Snowden developed preliminary optimised
mine plans and mining schedules based on the October 2010 inferred mineral
resources block model, using estimates for mining and processing costs provided
by African Eagle and its other contractors, Simulus
and AMEC Minproc.
The exercise compared six
production scenarios: two different process routes: atmospheric agitated tank
leaching (AL), and heap leaching (HL), each with three different processing
rates (2 Mtpa, 3 Mtpa and 5
Mtpa). Snowden developed technical cashflow models of operating costs for each scenario.
Snowden concluded that, on
information currently available, the Dutwa Project is
likely to be economically viable, irrespective of which of these process routes
is eventually chosen as a preferred option. The optimisation
will be revised when the resource model has been upgraded from inferred to
indicated or measured category under the JORC code; as better geotechnical data
become available and as confidence improves in the capital and operating cost
estimations.
Because the Dutwa deposits are at the surface, mining will be
relatively straightforward and the waste to ore strip ratio very low, between
0.45 and 0.53 to one. The optimisations indicated
that best financial results were obtained if a stockpile of up to 30Mt is
accumulated to accommodate the mining rate and to defer the presentation of low
grade material to the plant.
The optimisation
indicated economic cut-off nickel grades of 0.65% for AL and 0.67% for HL, for
a nickel price of $7.50 per lb. These gave mining inventories for the 3 Mtpa and 5 Mtpa process routes as
summarised in the tables below. These inventories can
be expected to be larger for higher nickel prices.
Dutwa project mining inventories and ore
grades at 3Mtpa and US$7.5/lb Ni
|
Ore Mt
|
Ni %
|
Co %
|
MgO %
|
Al2O3%
|
Fe2O3%
|
SiO2%
|
eNi %
|
AL
Case
|
78.17
|
0.97
|
0.03
|
8.95
|
1.90
|
12.20
|
62.27
|
0.99
|
HL
Case
|
72.10
|
0.99
|
0.03
|
9.00
|
1.87
|
12.23
|
62.18
|
1.02
|
Dutwa project mining inventories and ore
grades at 5Mtpa and US$7.5/lb Ni
|
Ore Mt
|
Ni %
|
Co %
|
MgO %
|
Al2O3%
|
Fe2O3%
|
SiO2%
|
eNi %
|
AL
Case
|
82.22
|
0.95
|
0.03
|
8.94
|
1.91
|
12.18
|
62.28
|
0.98
|
HL
Case
|
78.34
|
0.97
|
0.03
|
8.97
|
1.90
|
12.20
|
62.20
|
0.99
|
Qualified Person
Information in this report
is based on Whittle open pit computer simulations completed by Frank Blanchfield BEng (Mining), MAusIMM. Frank Blanchfield is a
member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (MAusIMM) and is Divisional Manager, Mining and a full-time
employee of Snowden Mining Industry Consultants Pty Ltd. Frank Blanchfield consents to the inclusion in the report of the
matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
Information in this report
relating to Mineral Resources is based on work completed by Richard Sulway BSc, MAppSc,
MAusIMM (CP). Richard Sulway is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining
and Metallurgy (MAusIMM) and has sufficient
experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation
and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity to which he is
undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 edition of
the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources and Ore Reserves" (the JORC Code) and is hence a Qualified
Person under AIM rules. Richard Sulway is a full-time
employee of Snowden Mining Industry Consultants Pty Ltd. Richard Sulway consents to the inclusion in the report of the
matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
Technical terms
A glossary of technical
terms used by African Eagle in this announcement and other published material
may be found at www.africaneagle.co.uk/p/glossary.asp.
For further information
on African Eagle, see the Company's web site www.africaneagle.co.uk or contact one of the following:
Mark Parker
Managing Director
African Eagle Resources plc, London
+44 20 7248 6059
+44 77 5640 6899
Jeremy Stephenson
Nicola Marrin
Seymour Pierce Limited, London
Nominated Adviser and Co-Broker
+ 44 20 7107 8000
Guy Wilkes
Ocean Equities Limited, London
Co-broker
+ 44 20 786 4370
Sandra Spencer
PR/IR Advisor
African Eagle Resources plc, London
+44 7557 660 798
Charmane Russell / Marion Brower
Russell & Associates, Johannesburg
+ 27 11 8803924
+27 82 8928052
Dutwa Project Overview
African Eagle is developing
the major Dutwa nickel project in Tanzania. The
Company discovered Dutwa in 2008 and is now
conducting a pre-feasibility study for the project.
Economic modelling in late 2010 indicated a pre-tax project NPV of
US$650 million at a nickel price of $8/lb, with an estimated average cash cost
of $3.37/lb nickel. The model was based on throughput of 3 million tonnes per year for 26 years with processing by atmospheric
tank leaching to a mixed hydroxide intermediate product, requiring estimated
initial capital expenditure of $600M and yielding life of mine earnings of
$8.2bn at $8/lb nickel. The mining schedule was derived from Whittle optimisations of block models of an October 2010 inferred
mineral resources. The financial models will be progressively improved as the
feasibility study progresses.
Mineral resources are
currently 98.6 million tonnes grading 0.93% nickel
and 0.02% cobalt, of which 46.2 million tonnes are in
the JORC indicated category and the remainder in the JORC inferred category.
The Company believes that further drilling will increase the total resource by
up to 10Mt.
The Dutwa
project consists of two nickel laterite deposits
which form the caps of two ridges about 7km apart. The current JORC mineral
resources, at a 0.43% nickel equivalent cut-off, are 98.6Mt grading 0.93%
nickel and 0.02% cobalt, containing in total 948,000 tonnes
nickel metal equivalent. Of this, about half is now in the indicated category
and half in the inferred. Because the deposits are at the surface, mining will
be straightforward and strip ratios very low. The Ni equivalent
(eNi) was calculated using the formula:
NiEq =
|
Ni
+ [ Co * (RCo/RNi) * (PCo/PNi)
]
|
=
|
Ni
+ (Co * 1.32)
|
using metal prices (P) of
US$10/pound Ni and US$17/pound Co, and metal recovery factors (R) of 90% for Ni
and 70% for Co, derived from metallurgical test work conducted by African
Eagle.
The Company believes that
the resources can be increased by another 8Mt to 10Mt with further drilling.
There is also future upside at Zanzui, 50km to the
south, where the Company is evaluating another significant nickel laterite resource, and at Nyawa,
15km west of Dutwa.
Metallurgical tests have
shown that the nickel ores are unusually easy to process, giving good
recoveries from heap or tank leaching at atmospheric pressure, with no need for
costly high pressure acid leach (HPAL).
African Eagle currently
holds a 90% interest in the eastern Wamangola
deposit, which hosts approximately 60% of the total Dutwa
resource, with an option to acquire 100%. The smaller western Ngasamo deposit is subject to a joint venture between
African Eagle and the SAFINA Group of the Czech Republic under which African
Eagle is in the process of earning an interest of between 50% and 75% by
conducting and funding evaluation work there.
On completion of the
feasibility study covering both deposits, African Eagle's own interest in Wamangola, together with the two companies' respective
joint venture interests in Ngasamo will be converted
into equity in the mining company formed to develop and operate the combined
project. African Eagle estimates that it will then hold about 76% of the
equity.
There is also future upside
at Zanzui, 50km to the south, where the Company is
evaluating another significant nickel laterite
resource, and at Nyawa, 15km west of Dutwa.
About African Eagle
Since discovering a major
nickel oxide deposit at Dutwa in Tanzania, African
Eagle is in transition from an explorer into a nickel company. The company
completed a positive scoping study on the Dutwa
deposit in July 2009 and is now working towards a feasibility study.
In addition to Dutwa, African Eagle is also evaluating a second promising
nickel oxide at Zanzui, which is located 60 km from Dutwa. The Company holds a 49% interest in the Mkushi Copper Mines joint venture in Zambia, for which a
draft feasibility study was completed in Q4 2008. It also holds a half million
ounce gold resource at the Miyabi project in
Tanzania, and a portfolio of gold and base metal exploration assets, including
two projects in the Zambian Copperbelt.