Name and Location
Kipoi copper project, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Client
Tiger Resources (60%) and La Générale des Carrière et des Mines (40%).

Project Description
The Kipoi project covers 55 km² and is located 75 km north-north-west of the city of Lubumbashi, in Katanga. The project contains a 12 km sequence of mineralised roan sediments that host at least five known deposits – Kipoi Central, Kipoi North, Kileba, Judeira and Kaminafitwe.

Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resources have been reported at three of the deposits. The principal deposit is Kipoi Central, which contains a zone of high-grade copper mineralisation within a much larger, lower-grade global resource.

Tiger is taking a phased development approach at the project.

The high-grade zone of copper mineralisation at Kipoi Central is being exploited during the Stage 1 development. During the three-year operation of Stage 1, an estimated 900 000 t/y of 7% copper is planned to be processed through the heavy-media separation (HMS) plant with a recovery rate of 55% to produce 132 000 t of copper in concentrate over its 42-month life.

The existing infrastructure at Kipoi for the Stage 1 HMS facility will be a springboard for the development of the Stage 2 solvent extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) plant, thereby minimising costs for the Stage 2 development. It is envisaged that ore from the Judeira deposit, and other deposits within the Kipoi project area and the nearby 100%-owned Lupoto project, will also be processed during the Stage 2 operations, providing additional returns and increasing the mineral resources available as feedstock to the Stage 2 SX-EW plant. Increased resources will potentially increase the nine-year mine life, demonstrated in the feasibility study and/or yearly plant throughput.

The HMS plant is producing more than 36 000 t/y of copper in a 25% concentrate. After a short period, during which the HMS and SX-EW facilities will operate simultaneously, the HMS will be superseded in the second quarter of 2014 by the SX-EW plant, which will produce London Metal Exchange grade-A copper cathode directly at the mine site.

The SX-EW plant is expected to produce 25 000 t in its first full year of operation and 50 000 t in subsequent years.

Value
Stage 1 cost an estimated $30-million.

Stage 2 will cost $160.9-million.

Duration
The Stage 2 SX-EW plant is scheduled to come on stream in 2014.

Latest Developments
Tiger has reported that it produced 1 499 t of copper cathode during its first production quarter, which ended in June.

Copper cathode production started in May this year at the Stage 2 SX-EW plant.

The SX-EW plant is on track to achieve a nameplate capacity of 25 000 t/y of copper cathode this month.

During the quarter under review, 281 421 t of material was moved to deliver 177 868 t of high-grade ore averaging 5.2% copper and 22 866 t of medium- and low-grade ore averaging 1.4% copper to the run-of-mine stockpile.

Mining activities have ceased from the Stage 1 HMS pit. Tiger says these will only restart in 2016, when the Stage 2 SX-EW operation depletes the current stockpiles.

Meanwhile, copper-in-concentrate production during the quarter under review reached 5 093 t, compared with the 6 518 t produced in the previous quarter. Lower production is as a result of a slight decline in head grade and recovery during the second quarter.

Tiger’s current operating plan is to shut down the production of copper concentrate on the depletion of high sulphur oxide and/or silica-oxide ore stockpiles during the first quarter of 2015. The HMS plant will then be reconfigured to produce heap-leach feed for the SX-EW from the medium-grade stockpile.

The copper miner has indicated that it will continue to review the HMS plant performance and the reconfiguration to produce heap-leach feed for the SX-EW, which could be brought forward to increase copper production and efficiencies, and improve shareholder returns.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
MCK Mining (mining contract – Stage 1), DRA Mineral Projects (lump-sum turnkey contract for the design, installation and commissioning of the HMS – Stage 1), Group Five (subcontractor – construction works for Stage 1), Arccon Mining Services (scoping study), Cube Consulting (pit optimisations), Coffey Mining (tailings dam – design and costing) and Senet (SX-EW).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Tiger Resources, tel +61 8 9240 1933, fax +61 8 9240 2406 or email tiger@tigerez.com.
DRA Mineral Projects, tel +27 11 202 8600, fax +27 11 202 8807 or email dra@drasa.co.za.
Group Five, tel +27 11 806 0111, fax +27 11 803 5520 or email info@groupfive.co.za.
ARccon Mining Services, tel +61 8 9340 6100, fax +61 8 9340 6150 or email mining@arccon.com.au.
Cube Consulting (South Africa), tel +27 12 665 2154, fax +27 27 665 1176 or email highveld@cubeconsulting.com.
Coffey Mining (South Africa), tel +27 11 679 3331 or +27 11 679 3272.
Senet, tel +2711 409 1300 or fax +2711 409 1301.