I'm pleased to see Justin being more animated than usual
Got me excited enough to research some more, this time on the copper concentrator plant. Seems like the low capex option of using an existing concentrator (as described in the early 2015 announcement below) has not eventuated. Oh well. Maybe suggests that capex financing is not an issue and will mean lower opex, maybe.
OMAN WASHIHI PROJECT PLAN DEFINED MOU WITH MAWARID MINING
Perth: Alara Resources Limited (ASX: AUQ) (Alara or Company) is pleased to announce that the Washihi deposit Joint Venture entity Al Hadeetha Resources LLC has recently entered into an MOU with Mawarid Mining LLC (Mawarid) in relation to the Washihi Copper-Gold Project in Oman (Project).
Mawarid owns and operates the Lasail Copper Concentrator Plant located ~35km inland from the bulk shipping port of Sohar in the north east of Oman. The Washihi deposit (Project) is the key asset of the Al Hadeetha Resources LLC (Al Hadeetha) incorporated joint venture1 between Alara (70%) and local partner, Al Hadeetha Investments LLC (30%).
Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Mawarid and Al Hadeetha, the parties have agreed to work collaboratively to define and optimise the Washihi copper/gold ore processing approach, terms and conditions in order to process a nominal 1Mtpa of copper/gold ore to be sourced from the Washihi deposit.
Mawarid’s Lasail Plant operates at throughput rates of between 0.8 – 1.2 kt/annum and is Oman’s only copper concentrator. In the third quarter of 2015 it is expected that the concentrator feed supply will cease and thus free up capacity for the toll treatment of the Washihi ore.
In turn, the Washihi deposit is Oman’s largest JORC Code compliant copper resource2 and in initial test work has proven amenable for Heavy Media Separation (HMS) ore upgrading that results in a mill feed of 1.8-2.2% Cu and +0.35 g/t Au.3 The HMS process also very significantly reduces the silica content of the Washihi resultant mill feed thus reducing the process plant grind index (reducing power consumption and plant liner wear) which in turn materially increases the overall tonnage that the processing plant can treat while reducing processing costs.
Alara has completed the initial evaluation of mining the Washihi deposit and toll treating the upgraded ore from site at the Mawarid Lasail Plant with highly positive results. This approach to developing the Washihi Project into a producing site is advantageous for both parties as it: Greatly reduces the Washihi capex required given the existence of the processing plant Greatly reduces the time to production for the same reason Simplifies the Washihi site construction and required infrastructure Reduces the Washihi site footprint due to the minimal site based operations (now limited to mining, primary crushing only and HMS) Provides a suitable process plant feed source for the Lasail concentrator
AUQ Price at posting:
2.9¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
