Name of the Project
RHA tungsten project.

Location
The project is located near Hwange, in Zimbabwe.

Client
Premier African Minerals holds 49% of RHA Tungsten, with the remaining 51% held by Zimbabwe’s National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund.

Project Description
The 1 800 ha project is divided into 50 mineable mineral blocks, of which Premier African Minerals owns ten.

The preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the project was completed in August 2013.

The mine plan presented in the PEA consists of an openpit, followed by an underground operation, with a combined life-of-mine (LoM) of six years at a run-of-mine production rate of 192 000 t/y, or 16 000 t/m.

The underground mine produces a wolframite concentrate that is measured in metric ton units (mtu); wolframite consists primarily of ferberite, with a smaller quantity of hubnerite.

Every mtu of concentrate is equivalent to 10 kg of tungsten trioxide contained in a concentrate at about 60%.

Premier Mining has since the completion of the PEA commissioned Bara Consulting to update the financial model of the project to demonstrate the effect of the additional work that has been completed since the publication of the PEA on the product valuation. The financial model outlines a low-capital implementation strategy.

Jobs to be Created
The project boasts entirely local skills, with no expatriates employed at the mine.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Bara’s financial model reflects a pretax net present value of $15.8-million and an annualised internal rate of return of 286%, calculated on a quarterly basis.

Value
The project preproduction capital has been reduced from $4.77-million to $4.15-million.

Duration
Operations at the mine started in August 2016.

Latest Developments
Premier African Minerals has completed the installation of an X-ray transmission (XRT) sorter at its RHA tungsten mine.

The company is optimising and integrating the sorter into the mine’s crushing circuits.

The XRT forms an important part of the upgrades and improvements to the RHA plant.

The miner now intends to increase sorter recovery from the 82% it originally anticipated.

“We remain on track to produce wolframite this quarter,” Premier African Minerals CEO George Roach has said.

''Apart from the upgrades to the plant, we have restarted openpit mining and started building a stockpile of run-of-mine ore from the openpit and underground operations,” Roach adds.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Bara Consulting (updated financial model).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Premier African Minerals, tel +27 100 201 281 or email info@premierafricanminerals.com.