A new resource calculation at the Lonshi copper deposit in the Zambian copper belt may justify an expansion First Quantum Minerals (FM-T) at the nearby Bwana Mkubwa mine.
The new figure puts Lonshi’s measured and indicated resource at 5.1 million tonnes grading 5.75% copper. The mineralization, in the same Roan clastic rocks that play host to most of the Belt’s copper deposits, is about 15 metres thick and dips gently to the east.
The resource that has been outlined indicates the Lonshi deposit can be exploited by open pitting. The mineralization, which is mainly copper oxides, is recoverable by direct acid leaching. Test recoveries have averaged 86%.
The resource is based on 138 mostly reverse-circulation drill holes, but core holes twinned with earlier reverse-circulation holes returned very similar grades.
First Quantum now expects to begin blending Lonshi mineralization with tailings from the Bwana Mkubwa operation in November. The Lonshi resource means an expansion of the Bwana Mkubwa solvent extraction-electrowinning plant, to a 30,000-tonne annual capacity, is now on the drawing board, an expansion that would take about a year to complete.
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