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

Client
Tiger Resources.

Project Description
The Kipoi project covers 55 km² and is located 75 km north-northwest 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 following a phased development approach for the project.

The first stage of production allowed for the treatment of only high-grade oxide material (malachite) through a heavy-media separation (HMS) plant.

The HMS plant was wound down in the September 2014 quarter and superseded by the solvent extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) plant, which produced first cathode in May 2014 and reached nameplate production of 25 000 t/y in September 2014. The SX-EW facility will produce LME grade-A copper cathode directly at the mine site.

The SX-EW plant can potentially be expanded to 50 000 t/y for capital expenditure of $111-million, representing a very competitive capital intensity of $4 400/t – significantly lower than the global average of future brownfield projects of $11 700/t.

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 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 the yearly plant throughput.

Tiger expects to produce 25 000 t of copper cathode at cash operating costs from $1.30/lb to $1.40/lb, royalties of $0.12/lb and sustaining capital of $0.15/lb for a Kipoi all-in sustaining cash cost from $1.57/lb to 1.67/lb in 2015.

Power costs are expected to significantly reduce in 2015 as Kipoi switches from diesel generation to predominantly grid power for a 90:10 ratio, following the completion of the power infrastructure upgrade.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
The SX-EW Phase 2 expansion is budgeted at an estimated $111-million.

The Phase 3 crusher and tank leach are budgeted at $70-million; however, metallurgical testwork is under way to optimise Phase 3 heap feed and potentially sustain a 50 000 t/y rate without having to spend $46-million on a tank leach using whole ore leaching.

Duration
The expansion of the project is targeted for completion in November 2016.

Latest Developments
Tiger has secured a $162.5-million finance facility with Taurus Mining Finance Fund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for the refinancing and expansion of the Kipoi copper project.

Taurus will provide $122-million and IFC the balance.

Upon commitment, the facility will refinance the existing debt facilities with Taurus and Gerald Metals and provide the required expansion capital for the debottlenecking initiative previously announced to increase capacity of the Tiger’s SX-EW plant from 25 000 t/y to 32 500 t/y copper cathode. Tiger is targeting completion of the expansion by November 2016.

Key financing terms of the Facility include:
• a term of about 99 months to January 31, 2024;
• an interest-only period to January 31, 2017; prepayable at any time without financial penalty.

First drawdown under the facility, subject to financing commitment, is targeted for December 2015.

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 plant).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Tiger Resources, tel +61 8 6188 2000, fax +61 8 6188 2099 or email admin@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 fax +27 11 679 3272.
Senet, tel +27 11 409 1300 or fax +27 11 409 1301.