Marula Mining revised development plan for Kinusi Copper Mine
Marula Mining is pleased to provide an update on its planned development and production plans for the Kinusi Copper Mine located in the Mpwapwa District in the Dodoma Region of central Tanzania.
The updated mine development plan involves a large conventional open pit mine development and a two-phase processing operation comprising initially of a gravity concentrate, coarse jigging and fines dewatering circuit to produce a 24,000 tonnes per annum of high-grade copper concentrate (“Phase 1”). The estimated capital costs for the Phase 1 gravity concentrate, coarse jigging and fines dewatering circuit based on the quotes received is approx. ZAR 27.4 million (approximately £1.4 million), which will be funded from available, but undrawn amounts due, from the subscription agreement entered into with AUO Commercial Brokerage LLC in 2024. Phase 2 will then incorporate a hydrometallurgy fines optimised heap leaching circuit, a copper solvent extraction as well as electrowinning refining process (“Phase 2”) to produce an initial 10,200 tpa of copper cathode.
The Company’s Board of Directors has now approved the updated development plan for Kinusi and the recommendations made by the Company’s technical management and independent geological and processing consultants who undertook a series of site visits to Kinusi in H1 2024 and most recently in August 2024.
Final test work for the Phase 1 gravity concentrate, jigging and fines dewatering circuit has been approved by the Board and will be completed in South Africa in Q4 2024. The associated Phase 2 test work has also been approved by the Board. This will comprise hydrometallurgy test work, copper leach kinetic tests, and fines optimised heap leaching polymer screening as well as column tests. In addition, detailed quotes have now been received from a number of mineral processing groups for the initial gravity concentrate coarse jigging and fines dewatering circuit which are being reviewed by the Company’s Executive Management, ahead of awarding the contract for the commencement of its installation and commissioning in late Q4 2024 and early Q1 2025.
Open pit mine planning and initial mining activities will commence in Q4 2024, with high-grade copper ore to be stockpiled ahead of the commissioning of the Phase 1 gravity concentrate coarse jigging and fines dewatering circuit. High grade copper concentrate production is now planned to commence in Q1 2025 with first export sales to be completed late in the quarter.
Jason Brewer, Marula Mining PLC CEO said: “There has been a tremendous amount of work completed at the Kinusi Copper Mine over 2024, following the results of the Phase 1 Exploration Programme. This work has been completed by numerous independent consultants, both from a geological, mining and mineral processing perspective.
The results of this work have caused us to re-assess the previously proposed development plans, which were solely based on production of high-grade copper concentrates. The independent mineral processing work completed most recently in August 2024 has demonstrated the real opportunity that exists at the Kinusi Copper Mine. We already believed from our earlier work that the potential of the Kinusi Copper Mine was quite significant, not only in terms of the high-grade and significant copper mineralisation that had been identified, but also from the existing infrastructure that was already in place to support our development plans.
The potential now is to establish the Kinusi Copper Mine as a producer and exporter of LME grade copper cathode, which presents the Company with the opportunity to add significant value to a strategically important mining operation in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania that will provide far reaching economic and employment benefits to the communities and stakeholders we work alongside with.
I look forward to see the mining activities accelerate over the coming quarter and updating shareholders and our stakeholders on these activities as well as the results from the test work that is to now due to commence in support of the expanded two-phase mineral processing operation that is to proceed.”
