This could be part of what is driving EQN.
Equinox to update uranium feasibility study at Lumwana
2007-03-22 10:36 ET - News Release
Mr. Craig Williams reports
URANIUM BANKABLE FEASIBILITY COMMENCED BY EQUINOX
Equinox Minerals Ltd. has commenced a bankable feasibility study on the uranium resources which occur within, and adjacent to, the Lumwana copper project orebodies that are currently being developed in the northwestern province of Zambia.
The company completed a bankable feasibility study in 2003 at Lumwana which included work on the extraction of the uranium mineralization to produce uranium oxide, an evaluation of the Lumwana uranium resources (which entailed resource definition and metallurgical testwork), and the design and costing of a separate process plant specifically for the extraction and processing of Lumwana uranium ore.
With Lumwana now fully permitted and under construction and in light of the robust and strengthening long-term uranium market, the company has commenced the feasibility study to review and update the 2003 feasibility study.
Uranium feasibility study
To this end, Ausenco Ltd. has been contracted to manage and implement the feasibility study. A four-phase program has been designed for the feasibility study to:
review the 2003 feasibility study uranium study including resources/reserves, metallurgy and process plant design;
conduct a further metallurgical testwork program;
design a processing plant and infrastructure to produce yellowcake on site; and
prepare capital and operating cost estimates with an accuracy of 15 per cent.
Ausenco, in joint venture with Bateman Engineering NV, is currently engaged for the EPC construction contract on the Lumwana copper project. In preparation to execute this new contract, Ausenco has assembled a team with considerable uranium expertise that will work in parallel with its construction team already on site at Lumwana. The feasibility study has commenced and is anticipated to be completed in the first quarter of 2008.
Lumwana uranium resources
Uranium within the Malundwe and Chimiwungo copper deposits occurs as discrete uranium-enriched zones that will be separately mined during the copper mining operation. Lumwana uranium mineral resources have been estimated at 9.5 million tonnes grading 0.093 per cent U3O8 indicated and 2.6 million tonnes of 0.042 per cent U3O8 inferred, for a combined total of 21.4 million pounds of contained U3O8 (see the news reported in Stockwatch May 2, 2005). The Lumwana uranium resource has been estimated using a 0.01-per-cent uranium cut-off grade and is consistent with JORC/NI43-101 requirements, as detailed in the technical report (October, 2006) on SEDAR. An infill drilling program will be conducted as part of the feasibility study to facilitate mine design and develop proven and probable reserves.
Equinox president and chief executive officer Craig Williams commented: "The positive long-term outlook for uranium has the potential to further enhance the economics of the Lumwana project if a uranium byproduct is economically viable. The company is evaluating this potential and considering alternatives for realizing any uranium development option. This uranium feasibility study will however not impact on Equinox's current construction schedule for the commissioning of the Lumwana project in Q2 2008."
Lumwana, owned 100 per cent by Equinox, is located in the northwestern province of the Republic of Zambia. It is anticipated that the Lumwana mine will produce an average of 169,000 tonnes of copper metal per year contained in concentrates for the first six years of its 37-year mine life.
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