Anvil Mining Limited announces Commissioning of HMS Plant for Kinsevere Stage I Mine Development
Monday June 11, 6:36 am ET
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TSX, ASX: AVM Common shares outstanding: 70.4 million All amounts are expressed in US dollars, unless otherwise stated.
MONTREAL, June 11 /CNW/ - Anvil Mining Limited (TSX, ASX: AVM - News News; "Anvil") is pleased to announce that AMCK Mining sprl ("AMCK"), a Joint Venture company involving Anvil (95%) and Mining Company of Katanga (5%) has commenced the commissioning of the Heavy Media Separation ("HMS") Plant for the Stage I development of the Kinsevere Mine, located 27km north of Lubumbashi, the provincial capital of the Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC").
Commissioning of HMS Plant
The commissioning of the HMS plant began during the first week of June with the result that the first copper concentrates were produced on June 9, 2007. The plant, which is a standard configuration three-stage crushing and screening circuit, scrubber and HMS plant is expected to be fully commissioned before the end of June 2007. The design capacity of the HMS plant is 500,000 tonnes of ore throughput per year, or 1,370 tonnes per day. (Photos of the plant and other aspects of the Kinsevere operations can be viewed by accessing the following link: www.anvilmining.com/documents/070611KinsevereStageICommissioningPhotos.pdf ). Copper concentrates produced at the HMS plant will contain approximately 25% copper and until the Electric-Arc Furnace ("EAF") has been completed, the concentrate will be sold locally.
EAF Construction
The Stage I development of Kinsevere comprises an open pit mining operation which commenced during the first quarter of 2007 on the Tshifufia and Tshifufiamashi pits, the construction of an HMS plant and an EAF.
Keech Furnace Technologies has completed the design of two 7.5 MVA EAFs and civil works are progressing well. All steel for construction of the building that will house the two EAFs has been fabricated and the shipment of mechanical equipment and EAF components has commenced and is expected to be completed within six to eight weeks. The commissioning of the EAF is planned to take place during the fourth quarter of 2007. The plant is expected to produce approximately 23,000 to 25,000 tonnes per annum of "black copper" ingots assaying 90%-93%.
Connection to DRC Hydro-electric Power Grid
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in December 2006 with Société Nationale d'Electricité, the DRC government electricity company, for the supply of 60MW (mega-watts) of hydro-electrical power to support both the Stage I and the planned Stage II, 60,000 tonnes per year Solvent Extraction Electro-winning ("SX-EW") developments.
The Kinsevere Mine is being connected via a 120KV transmission line, to the DRC national hydro-electric power grid in Lubumbashi. Clearing for the 27km direct line has been completed. Powerline Africa has been contracted for the installation which is expected to be completed by the end of July.
On site diesel powered generators will provide electrical power for the HMS plant up until the time that the hydro-electrical connection is completed.
Mining at Kinsevere
Open pit mining on both the Tshifufia and Tshifufiamashi deposits commenced in January reaching full capacity at the end of the first quarter. The focus to date has been waste stripping at the Tshifufia pit where approximately 1.9 million tonnes of waste stripping was required to expose high-grade ore for early processing. Approximately 90% of this advance waste stripping has now been completed.
As of May 31, 2007, the Kinsevere stockpile of high-grade, medium-grade and low-grade copper ores on the Run-of-Mine pad available for processing through the HMS plant was as follows:
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COPPER ORE ON THE KINSEVERE STOCKPILE
(as at May 31, 2007)
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Total Copper Contained
Tonnes Grade (%) Copper (tonnes)
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High-grade 57,000 7.39 4,234
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Medium-grade 89,000 3.35 2,984
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Total high-grade &
medium-grade 146,000 4.94 7,218
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Low-grade 92,000 1.36 1,255
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The progress made with the mining operations has placed the Company in a position where it now has significant flexibility with respect to the blending of ore to the HMS plant.
Production Profile for Stage I
The production profile of the Stage I HMS and EAF processing plant, up to the commissioning of the SX-EW plant, is expected to be as follows:
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KINSEVERE STAGE I
TARGETED PRODUCTION PROFILE
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June - Dec. Full Year Five Months
2007 2008 2009
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Ore mined (tonnes) 912,128 1,850,105 963,633
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Ore processed (tonnes) 250,000 470,229 204,070
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Average copper grade (% Cu) 6.8 7.7 8.3
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Average copper recovery (%) 69.1 69.1 69.1
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Tonnes of "black copper" ingots or
copper concentrate produced 11,816 24,987 11,489
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Mine cash cost - at mine gate ($/lb) 1.12 0.86 0.86
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Total cash cost - incl. transport
and royalties ($/lb) 1.59 1.31 1.31
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Kinsevere Mineral Resources
In January 2007, the Company released the results of the Kinsevere Phase 2 drilling program carried out during 2006. The 17,220 metre 2006 Phase 2 drilling program, which focused entirely on the Tshifufia deposit, resulted in the preparation of an updated mineral resource estimate for the Tshifufia, Tshifufiamashi and Kinsevere Hill deposits.
The Kinsevere Mineral Resource estimates as at December 31, 2006 are shown below:
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KINSEVERE MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE
(as at December 31, 2006)
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Total Contained Total Contained
Copper Copper Cobalt Cobalt
Tonnes Grade (%) (tonnes) Grade (%) (tonnes)
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Measured 6,010,000 4.4 266,700 0.29 17,200
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Indicated 14,080,000 4.3 598,600 0.19 26,600
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Total Measured
& Indicated 20,090,000 4.3 865,300 0.22 43,800
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Inferred 20,920,000 3.4 716,500 0.20 41,200
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The Phase 2 drilling on the Tshifufiamashi and Kinsevere Hill deposits is currently ongoing and is expected to result in a re-estimation of the Mineral Resource by the end of this year.
Kinsevere Stage II
In April 2007, following completion of a feasibility study, the Board of Directors approved the Kinsevere Stage II development at a capital cost of $238 million. The Stage II development, which involves construction of a 60,000 tonnes per year SX-EW plant, will produce LME Grade A quality copper cathode directly at the mine site.
There are a number of important linkages between the Stage I and Stage II projects, with key aspects of the infrastructure developed for Stage I to be used during Stage II. For example, tailings from the Stage I HMS plant will be returned to the SX-EW plant for processing; the power line being constructed for the purpose of providing electrical power for Stage I will deliver sufficient power to support the Stage II 60,000 tonnes per year SX-EW plant and parts of the front end crusher for Stage I will be used to enable a higher level of throughput required for Stage II.
Tenders have been called for the engineering, procurement, construction and management of the Stage II development and it is expected that an EPCM contractor will be appointed by the beginning of the third quarter of 2007.
Anvil Mining Limited is an unhedged copper and silver producer whose shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (as common shares) and the Australian Stock Exchange (as CDIs) under the symbol AVM. It has majority interests in and operates the Dikulushi copper-silver mine, the Kinsevere copper mine and the Kulu copper tailings operation in the Katanga Province of the DRC.
Additional Notes: The information in this news release that relates to in-situ Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Gerry Fahey of FinOre Pty Ltd and Tony Cameron of A. & J. Cameron & Associates under the supervision of Malcolm Hillbeck. Gerry Fahey is a Chartered Professional and a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, and has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking, to qualify as a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Malcolm Hillbeck, Anvil's Chief Operating Officer, is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity he is undertaking, to qualify as a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101. Certain other technical information in this news release has been reviewed by Mike Newman, Anvil's Vice President Project Development. Mike Newman is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Gerry Fahey, Malcolm Hillbeck and Mike Newman have consented to the inclusion of such information in this news release in the form and context in which it appears.
Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements: The forward-looking statements made in this news release are based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events and results. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those with respect to the operations of the construction and development of a 60,000 tonnes per year SX-EW plant and Electric-Arc Furnace and power grid at Kinsevere and its capital expenditures and estimated future production and operating cash costs involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the actual market prices of copper, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future mining, processing and development activities, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's filed documents.
For further information
Craig Munro, Vice President Corporate & Finance and CFO, Tel: +61 (8) 9481 4700, Email: craigm@anvilmining.com (Perth)
Robert La Vallière, Vice President Investor Relations, Tel: (Office) (514) 448-6664, (Cell) (514) 944-9036, Email: robertl@anvilmining.com (Montréal)
Website: www.anvilmining.com
Source: Anvil Mining Limited |
