perkoa update

Good timing too.

Regards,

TCG

p.s no time to format..


PERKOA PROJECT UPDATE – MAIDEN DELIVERIES TO PORT
KEY POINTS
? Approximately 17,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate stockpiled at the mine.
? Trial trucking of concentrate to port commenced - 120 tonnes now at port.
? Installation of second ball mill (to achieve 1 million tonne throughput)
with the second stage ramp-up in production to start during Q4 CY2013.
Blackthorn Resources Limited (ASX: BTR) (“the Company” or “Blackthorn Resources”)
wishes to provide the following update regarding the Perkoa Mine in Burkina Faso, West
Africa.
The Perkoa Project is a joint venture between Glencore Xstrata, Blackthorn Resources
and the Burkina Faso Government which has developed the first large-scale base metals
mine in the country. The project is located 120km west from the capital Ouagadougou.
Glencore is the Project Manager.
Operations
First deliveries of concentrate
The first deliveries of saleable product were recently made to the Port of Abidjan in Cote
d’Ivoire as part of a process of testing the logistics chain from the mine to the port prior to
embarking on full-scale transport of concentrate.
Photographs below show stockpiling of 120 tonnes of zinc concentrate at the port.
The first shipment of export sales is likely to contain 13,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate
and is expected to be loaded early September 2013.
Process Plant
Ore throughput and concentrate quality are approaching design specifications for a single
ball mill operation.
The plant milled 50,739 tonnes of ore in June 2013, with plant availability at 93.3% and an
average throughput of 75.6 dry metric tonnes per hour.
Zinc recoveries and concentrate grades continue at close to target levels.
The key production statistics are provided in the Table below.
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June 2013 YTD
MATERIAL HANDLED
ROM (t) 59,000 223,272
Tonnes Milled (t) 50,739 231,000
Zn Feed Grade (%)* 5.02 4.57
Pb Feed Grade (%) 0.46 0.52
* Zn ore predominantly from open pit mining
The installation and commissioning of the second ball mill is expected to be completed in
Q4 CY2013, enabling ramp-up to 1.0 million tonne throughput capacity.
Open Pit
Mining in the open pit is continuing, with the second push-back now well under way.
Drilling performance in June was on target following the introduction of an additional drill
rig. This follows the below budget drilling performance in April and May 2013 due to the
poor availability of the rigs. As a result, production from the open pit is below budget yearto-
date, however this is being offset by better production and grades from the
underground mine.
A new drill contractor is now in the process of mobilising to site to ensure drill performance
continues to improve.
Underground
Underground ore production from development was ahead of target in June 2013, with
high-grade development ore of approximately 13.5% Zn being mined. This ore is being
used to improve the head grade of the feed to the process plant. Stoping from the 130
level is expected to commence in July 2013, which will provide increased production
tonnage and grade from the underground mine.
The Main Ramp is progressing well following the completion of ventilation raises to the
160 and 190 levels.
Managing Director Scott Lowe said:
“The first delivery of saleable product to port is another important milestone at
Perkoa and we look forward to the loading of the maiden shipment in the near
future. We are also looking forward to continuing ramp up at the mine.”
Should you require further information please contact:
Scott Lowe
Managing Director
Ph: + 61 2 9357 9000
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Figure 1 – Loading concentrate at Perkoa Mine
Figure 2 – Trucking concentrate
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Figure 3 – Unloading at Port
Figure 4 – Concentrate at Port
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