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Sands of time persevere

to turn

freeze on licence approvals in Kenya “We have a really interesting area that
A may have thrown a minor roadblock the straddles the Kenyan and Tanzanian bor-
way of mineral sands miner Base Resourc- der, we like it as a potential rutile opportu-
es Ltd, but managing director Tim Carstens nity,” Carstens said. “We have been suc-
is adamant the obstacle is only temporary. cessful in having tenure granted on the Tim Carstens
“On the Kenyan side of the border, we’re Tanzanian side.”
caught up in the moratorium that applies Just a day prior to Carstens speaking at lenge for us now is just moving through
to all licences in Kenya at the moment,” the conference, Base mobilised a drill rig to community access issues but we are mak-
Carstens said at Africa Down Under. Tanzania to drill a number of targets that fol- ing significant headway. I fully expect us to
“There’s a moratorium on issuances of lowed a year of reconnaissance work. be drilling there over the course of this year.”
new licences while some issues with the Base has had some luck in Kenya, how- Base is also progressing development at
cadastre get cleaned up. ever, as the company focuses on the Kwale its other minerals sands project in Mada-
“We certainly hoping that gets resolved East area to support the operating mine. gascar Toliara with FID expected by Sep-
soon so the industry can get up and get “It’s been a very productive year for re- tember 2023.
moving again and we can start having solving a number of issues with govern- For FY22, Kwale contributed to $US279.1
some discoveries that underpin the next ment,” Carstens said. “We’ve had two million in revenue for $US158.7 million
generation of mines.” extensions of the special mining lease to in- EBITDA, a considerable increase from last
Base is looking towards regional explora- corporate the areas we’re now mining and year’s $US198.2 million and $US94.6 mil-
tion to continue improving the fundamentals will be mining over the coming years. We’ve lion, respectively.
of its Kenyan mineral sands mine, Kwale, resolved the longstanding VAT and royalty “We have a very profitable, established
which started production in 2013 and re- uplift issues all in the last 12 months. operation in Kwale,” Carstens said. “[Miner-
cently had its mine life upgraded to Decem- “The next phase for us is really focused als sands is a] sector we believe is going
ber 2024. on the Kwale East area. We do know there to continue to evolve and develop in some
On the other side of the fence in Tanza- is mineralisation there, but we don’t know interesting ways.”
nia, however, Base has been more suc- how much.
cessful with landing approvals. “We have exploration tenure, the chal- – Fraser Palamara

First Quantum returns to

Zambia in big way

fter nearly a decade pursuing expan- unlock the economy and allow businesses mtpa (it currently processes 29 mtpa) and
Asion outside the country, First Quan- to flourish. The recent changes have at- mine life pushed out to 2044 as it transi-
tum Minerals Ltd has switched its atten- tracted investment in exploration and ex- tions from selective high-grade to bulk,
tion back to Zambia with plans to spend isting facilities. medium-grade mining
$US1.5 billion in the country over the next “Following extensions discussions with While the change in mining method
three years. the new Government, S3 was approved in will see a fall in grade, Egnar said the in-
The funding has been assigned for the May. The Government has taken steps to creased volumes would ensure production
S3 expansion project at First Quantum’s improve economic climate and create cer- stays well above the 200,000 tpa copper
Kansanshi copper operation. The project tainty for investors.” currently produced.
started in 2013 but when the company ac- The $US1.25 billion project will see Egnar said the company would take ad-
quired Cobre Panama that same year, the Kansanshi’s operations expanded by 25 vantage of the previous construction, es-
Central American asset took priority. sentially picking up where it left off in 2013.
“All work on S3 was halted and major The majority of work is expected to occur
equipment redirected in favour of Cobre in 2024 with first production in 2025.
Panama,” First Quantum general manager As well as S3, First Quantum will up-
Sean Egnar explained. grade the copper smelter at Kansanshi,
With Cobre Panama now at steady- increasing capacity to 1.6 mtpa, allowing
state, the company’s thoughts returned to it to produce 400,000 tpa of blister copper,
Zambia where S3’s fortunes had been giv- up from the current 300,000 tpa.
en a boost by the new Government’s more Meanwhile, at the company’s Sentinel
progressive attitude to foreign investment. operation, also in Zambia, plans are afoot
“Zambia has a new government and a to develop the 40mt Enterprise nickel pro-
new president, this change was promoted ject.
by promises of reform,” Egnar said. “The – Dominic Piper
new Government has an extensive plan
to elevate Zambia – first and foremost to
Sean Egnar

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2022 Page 65