Announce the Annual Financial Report Including Project Update
Perth, Mar 12, 2014 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Tiger Resources (
ASX:TGS) along with the Annual Financial Statements for the company, the Kipoi activities included the continued operations of the Stage 1 heavy media separation (HMS) plant to produce copper concentrate, and the construction of the first phase 25,000 tpa copper cathode production facilities of the Stage 2 solvent-extraction and electro-winning plant (SXEW). Tiger has a 60% interest in La Société d'Exploitation de Kipoi SPRL (SEK), a DRC-registered company which is the operator at Kipoi.
SEK is undertaking a phased development at Kipoi. The Stage 1 HMS plant is currently in production, and is now expected to process 3.5Mt of ore grading approximately 7% Cu, to produce a total of 132,000 tonnes of copper-in-concentrate over its life. The Stage 1 HMS operations are expected to generate stockpiles and residues containing 147,000 tonnes of copper which will provide the feed for the Stage 2 SXEW plant for the first three years of operations.
As at 31 December 2013, the stockpiles contained 5.3Mt of material grading an average of 2.6% Cu for 136,600 tonnes of contained copper
Construction of the Stage 2 SXEW plant commenced in January 2013 and was 87% complete at 31 December 2013. The plant remains within budget and ahead of schedule, with first production of copper cathode due in the June quarter of 2014.
An update of the January 2013 Feasibility Study on Stage 2 at Kipoi completed in January 2014 demonstrated improved economics for the operation, confirming it as a low-cost, high-margin project capable of producing 532,000 tonnes of copper cathode over 11 years. It will process ore reserves from the Kipoi Central, Kileba and Kipoi North deposits, and reject floats, slimes and medium grade ore stockpiles from the Stage 1 HMS operation.
The Stage 2 site cash operating costs are forecast at $0.72/lb for the first two years of the operation (no mining required), increasing thereafter to produce a life of mine (LOM) average of $1.04/lb and a LOM average C3 cost (all in cost) of less than $1.75/lb.
It is envisaged that ore from Judeira and other deposits within the Kipoi Project area, and within the nearby 100%-owned Lupoto Project, will also be processed during the Stage 2 operations, providing additional returns and increasing the ore reserves available as feedstock to the Stage 2 Kipoi SXEW plant. Increased resources from these deposits will potentially increase the mine life and/or the annual plant throughput.
KIPOI STAGE 1: HMS OPERATIONS
The Stage 1 HMS produced 41,255 tonnes of copper concentrate in 2013, exceeding original guidance of 37,000t by more than 4,000t, at an underlying direct cash operating cost of $0.50/lb of copper.
Mining
A total of 4,434,763 tonnes of material was mined during 2013 to deliver 1,348,571 tonnes of high-grade ore averaging 6.7% Cu to the run-of-mine (ROM) stockpile. The stripping ratio averaged 2.3:1 for the year and forecast to decline further to 1.2:1 in 2014.
Processing
Ore throughput for the year was 978,810 tonnes, which was 8% above the HMS nameplate processing rate. The copper head grade averaged 7.0% for the year, above the average of 6.76% for 2012.
Direct cash operating costs for the year totalled $51.9 million, representing a cost of $0.57/lb of copper produced. The underlying direct cash operating costs were $45.1 million or $0.50/lb of copper produced in concentrate, after adjusting for certain prior year mining cost adjustments and other general administration costs. "Other site costs" includes items of cost such as indirect taxes incurred which are considered to be abnormal in nature and not directly related to production. A total of $8.6 million was paid in royalties during the year, representing a cost of $0.10/lb of copper produced.
Concentrate sales
A total of 188,658 tonnes of concentrate, representing contained copper in concentrate of 43,485 tonnes and a payable copper content of 27,711 tonnes, was sold during the year for revenue of $193.1 million at a realised copper price of $6,966/t.
KIPOI STAGE 2: SXEW
Site works, construction and commissioning
Site works and construction on the Stage 2 SXEW plant at Kipoi commenced in January 2013. Lump sum turnkey (LSTK) contracts were executed with Senet Pty Ltd for the plant, agglomerator and stacking conveyer system and additional fixed price contracts were executed for construction of accommodation, electricity supply, reticulation and earthworks.
The project remained ahead of schedule and on budget at 31 December 2013, achieved with zero lost time injuries after more than 1 million hours worked. Heap leach commissioning activities commenced in December 2013, representing the start of the SXEW process, with first copper-rich solution generated on 21 December 2013, awaiting completion of the solvent-extraction circuit.
Practical completion and commissioning of the plant is expected to occur on schedule in the second quarter of 2014.
Kipoi Central Mineral Resource and Reserve Upgrades
Following the completion of a 14-hole diamond drilling (DD) programme, the Kipoi Central mineral resource, including stockpiles, was updated, resulting in a 12% increase in the resource to 642,000 tonnes.
To view the complete Annual Financial statments and report, please visit:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/76741-ASX-TGS-670430.pdf
About Tiger Resources Limited
Tiger Resources Limited (ASX:TGS) has established itself as a producing copper/cobalt company with excellent growth potential after making the transition from an explorer. We have a highly-rated portfolio of properties, all strategically located on the world renowned Katanga Copperbelt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), central Africa.
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