Name of the Project
Tongo diamond mine project.

Location
The project is located in the eastern Kenema district of Sierra Leone.

Project Owner/s
Newfield Resources.

Project Description
Front-end engineering design (FEED) has definitively shown the Tongo project to be a technically robust and strongly economic development.

The FEED has shown the project to have an initial probable reserve of 1.09-million carats from the shallow zones of the Kundu and Lando kimberlites within the Tongo development. Total ore mined and processed is estimated at 1.09-million tonnes and total diamond production is forecast at about 1.09-million carats, with Kundu delivering about 460 000 ct and Lando about 640 000 ct.

The FEED estimates an initial eight-year life-of-mine, with peak production of 260 000 ct/y.

Mining is planned to be exclusively underground, with access to the Kundu and Lando kimberlites from a portal entrance located about midway between the two kimberlites. The selected mining method is traditional shrinkage stoping (with an 85 cm mining stope width).

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $33-million and an internal rate of return of 30%.

Capital Expenditure
The project is estimated at $29.4-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The FEED has concluded that diamonds could be produced within 12 months of the final investment decision.

Latest Developments
Newfield Resources has completed the blasting of the boxcut for the portal access to the underground declines at its Tongo diamond mine.

Work is now focussed on providing the necessary support for the boxcut and shaping the haul road to attain the right angle of entry into the decline.

"With the recent signing of the lease agreement for the mining equipment, which is due to arrive on site at the end of this year, we look forward to starting the opening of the portal and driving down the decline towards the Kundu and Lando ore reserves from January 2020," Newfield CEO Karl Smithson has said.

The company has decided to adopt a processing plant design that will allow for the rapid modular expansion of the plant from 50 t/h to 100 t/h.

"This provides the potential for significantly expanded production rates from 2023 and also . . . the flexibility to further increase production from existing and other kimberlites that are not yet in the broader mine plan," Smithson has said.

He has noted that mine design optimisation work has already identified an opportunity to develop the Tongo D-1 kimberlite in parallel with the planned mining of the Kundu and Lando kimberlites from 2023.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Paradigm Project Management, together with MPH Consulting, Z-Star Mineral Resource Consultants, SRK Consulting and Datamine (FEED).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Newfield Resources, tel +232 78 415163 or email info@newfieldresources.com.au.