Name of the Project
Nokeng fluorspar mine and concentrator project.

Location
The project is located at Rust de Winter, 80 km north-east of Pretoria, in Gauteng, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Nokeng Fluorspar Mine, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sepfluor.

Project Description
The Nokeng project has a South African Code for the Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves-compliant reserve of 12-million tonnes.

The project comprises a 12.2-million-tonne ore reserve. It includes two high-quality, adjacent hematite/fluorspar deposits – Plattekop and Outwash Fan – and includes the unexplored Wilton deposit.

The Outwash Fan deposit comprises nine-million tonnes at 22.7% calcium fluoride, and the Plattekop deposit comprises 3.2-million tonnes at 38.6%. The Outwash Fan has significant silica and iron content and the latter will be removed using a wet high-intensity magnetic separator and sent to the tailings dam. Sepfluor will undertake a scoping study to determine whether it ss economically viable for the separated iron to be sold as a by-product.

The high-grade Wilton deposit is adjacent to Plattekop, and there are several exploration targets on the remainder of Nokeng’s 1 309 ha licence. There is also the Wallmannsthal operation, which is expected to start construction in two to three years from now.

The project entails the construction of a mine that will produce between 130 000 t/y and 185 000 t/y of acid-grade fluorspar and 30 000 t/y of metallurgical-grade fluorspar at an average run-of-mine rate of 630 000 t/y.

The mine has an estimated life-of-mine of 19 years.

Potential Job Creation
The operation is highly automated, employing 135 permanent workers and 70 contract workers.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
R1.7-billion.

The Nokeng fluorspar project has been funded by a combination of equity from shareholders. The equity consists of an investment amounting to 45%, with the other 55% of equity in the form of a loan from the principal lenders.

The lenders are local commercial bank Nedbank Limited, German state-owned entity Deutsche Investitions Und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG) and Dutch private-sector financial institution Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij Voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO). Each lender has contributed almost one-third of the loan.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction started in July 2017, with first production expected in 2019.

Latest Developments
The Nokeng fluorspar mine was officially opened on August 1.

The operation is expected to ramp up to full commercial-scale production by the end of August.

The concentrator plant is in its final stages of commissioning, with handover from contractor DRA Global and its metallurgical affiliate Minopex expected imminently.

Nokeng’s products will primarily be exported to the US, Europe and India, but there is also significant interest from China. Sepfluor has a seven-year offtake and marketing agreement with Traxys, which has partners in 20 countries. Traxys also has a stake in Sepfluor.

Operating cash flows from Nokeng will be used to fund the company’s second mine, the Wallmannsthal fluorspar mine. Sepfluor already has the mining rights and water-use licence for the project. The definitive feasibility study should be completed in 18 months’ time.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Nokeng Joint Venture, comprising DRA Projects SA and Group Five Construction (main contractor, with Group Five responsible for the construction work and DRA for the design and management of the project), Andru Mining (contract Mining), Stefanutti Stocks (tailings deposition management at the downstream tailings facility).

On Budget and on Time?
The project is on time and on budget.

Contact Details for Project Information
Sepfluor, tel +27 12 622 9400, fax +27 12 622 9494 or email info@sepfluor.co.za.