JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Iron-ore developer Tawana Resources has appointed mining and minerals design and development groups Tenova Mining and Minerals and Engenium to manage and coordinate the major design and logistics components of a prefeasibility study (PFS) for its Mofe Creek project in Liberia.

Tawana noted that Tenova, which recently also completed a scoping study for the project, had a strong record in delivering projects similar to Mofe Creek.

Engenium, meanwhile, was a project and study management delivery company servicing the mining and resource sectors with a specific focus on mine, port and rail projects. 

The PFS, led by Tawana project director Noel O’Brien, would build on the results of the Mofe Creek scoping study, which had indicated a “very positive” economic potential and would focus on the key aspects of the development of a successful project.

This would involve marine infrastructure and logistics, including barging solutions for transshipment and direct shiploading facilities; landside logistics, including the evaluation of road and rail links from mine to port; logistics permitting; hydrology and water management; process engineering, including metallurgical testwork; mining engineering; tailings engineering; geotechnical investigations; and an environmental- and social-impact assessment (ESIA). 

Tawana would announce the appointment of major subcontractor groups in the coming weeks to assist Tenova and Engenium in the development of the PFS.

Tawana executive chairperson Wayne Richards said the group was pleased to have assembled a strong contingent of mining development and engineering firms to work with the company on the PFS.

“This will ensure that we will be equipped to design a high-value, low-risk project for the benefit of Tawana shareholders,” he commented.

The results of the PFS were expected to be available in the second quarter of 2015, following the completion of the current resources infill and step-out drilling programme, along with the advancement of the mineral development agreement and the ESIA.