Savannah Resources reports that the Mutamba Consortium has completed the commissioning of a pilot processing plant at the Mutamba mineral sands project in Mozambique. In celebration of this, the plant was officially opened today by His Excellency, the Governor of Inhambane, Daniel Chapo, in the presence of national, provincial and district officials and members of the local community. The 20 t/h plant will be used to produce concentrates as part of the PFS for Mutamba, which began earlier this year.
David Archer, Savannah’s Chief Executive Officer said “We have been delighted to see the continuing strong support for the project both from the Governor and all levels of government and local communities. The commissioning of the pilot plant is an important step forward for our studies on Mutamba, which our fully owned subsidiary AME is conducting on behalf of the Mutamba Consortium. The pilot plant will allow us to process samples and conduct tests on the extraction of minerals from the deposits. While things are still at a very early stage, a pilot plant is an important part of any project study and we look forward to the work ahead.”
Savannah has a Consortium Agreement with Rio Tinto, which became operative in October 2016, to define a potential dry mining operation for staged, early development in a world-class province in Mozambique. This combines Savannah’s Jangamo project with Rio Tinto’s adjacent Mutamba project, which includes three deposit areas – Jangamo, Dongane and Ravene – and Chilubane deposit, which is located 180 km to the southwest of Mutamba. The enlarged collective Mutamba project has excellent infrastructure, including road, power and access to the nearby ports of Inhambane and Maxixie approximately 40 km away. The project also benefits from Rio Tinto’s existing camp and equipment to help fast track development.
Savannah is the operator of the project and may earn up to a 51% interest in the combined project as it moves towards production through scoping, PFS and feasibility studies. Rio Tinto is providing all its existing camp, facilities and associated equipment, and the Consortium Agreement includes an offtake agreement on commercial terms for the sale of 100% of production to Rio Tinto (or an affiliate).
