Discovery ponders second copper mine

Brian Benza
Staff Writer | Friday May 4, 2012 00:00

 

The deposit is now estimated to contain some 1.2 million tonnes of copper metal and 36.7 million ounces of silver.'With the upgrade to the Plutus deposit, the Boseto project's measured and indicated mineral resources has increased to 36.2 milion tonnes, grading 1.4 percent copper and 19.1 g/t silver.

'This upgrade to the Plutus deposit represents another step towards increasing the life and scale of the Boseto copper project,' read the quarterly update statement.

The feasibility study for the adjacent Zeta deposit found that with a capital expenditure of some P200 million ($26.8m), the Zeta underground mine could be developed into a 1.5 million tonne-a-year operation, with an 11-year life-of-mine.'In addition, the identification of mineral resources at depth, with potential for underground mining, creates an opportunity to leverage off the recently completed definitive feasibility study (DFS) for underground mining at Zeta,' managing director Brad Sampson said. Sampson said that work on the scoping study for the Plutus underground mine would start in 2013.

The Boseto Copper Project will initially pump out 36,000 tonnes of copper annually over a lifespan exceeding 15 years.

Expansion plans include extending the life of mine to 25 years and boosting production to 50,000 tonnes of copper per annum. Sampson said with the required permits in hand, DML was planning to start development of a 25-megawatt coal-fired power station before year-end.

It is expected that the station will take two years to build, with Discovery's stated plans indicating commissioning of the project by mid-2013. 'There are two aspects to the development, one of these being design and other being a construction programme,' he said.  'We would like to have front end design done and also start part of the two-year construction programme this year.'

When it is commissioned in the next few months, the Boseto Copper Project will eclipse BCL Mine as the country's largest producer of copper.  It will also produce approximately one million ounces of silver annually. Discovery Metals has prospecting licenses covering 8,877 km2 along the Kalahari Copper belt.  The Kalahari Copperbelt sediment-hosted mineralisation of the Boseto Copper Project is similar in style to the well-known and large deposits of the Central African Copperbelt of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.