Unicorn Mineral Resources plc expects to acquire by the end of June a controlling stake in the Klein Aub copper mine and 5.6 million tonnes of slimes and tailings, in the Kalahari Copper Belt in central Namibia.
HEAP-LEACHING
The County Dublin-based company said that the seller’s corporate reorganisation in April had delayed the initial weeks of the legal documentation drafting, which was now “well advanced”.
Unicorn has at the same time been working to identify the best extraction process utilising Draslovka’s glycine leaching agent.
“The team visited a copper mine in Zambia to assess an enhanced heap-leaching process designed for the heap-leaching materials similar to those at Klein Aub,” added the company.
“This system has been running successfully at the Zambian copper mine for the last two years with good results.
“This process has relatively low capital and operating expenditure requirements making it an effective solution for the 5.5m tonne tailings facility at Klein Aub, which has an estimated grade of 0.26% Cu and 7.4g/t Ag.”
The Namibian Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy (MIME) has also given to Unicorn information on more than 150 further tailings facilities from mining before Namibia’s independence in 1990.
Chairman Paddy Doherty said: “The company has used the extended documentation process to bring forward work that would have been necessary post completion and so, overall, little time has been lost.
“We are particularly pleased with the results of the Zambian site visit and we believe that we have the right technology partners to not only extract the value from the Klein Aub tailings but also, with support from the Namibian Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy, to tackle the enormous opportunities across the country.”