Tag Archives: Coffey

Otso Gold enlists Tetra Tech for new restart plan at Finland gold mine

Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , ,

Otso Gold has appointed Coffey Geotechnics Ltd, a Tetra Tech Company, to complete and publish an updated NI 43-101 feasibility study for the restart of the Otso gold mine, in Finland.

Tetra Tech is running a live model to support and optimise the current drill program at the project that will inform the feasibility study.

“The feasibility study will be particularly focused on the optimised mine plan to underpin the return to production on a long-term sustainable basis,” the company said.

The drill program will also seek to upgrade the resources. Further, pursuant to the requirements of NI 43-101, all areas of the Otso gold mine will be included in the feasibility study, therefore the company will seek to use the opportunity to optimise the process plant further, it said.

“The company notes that its process plant has a 2 Mt nameplate capacity and has previously produced at recoveries above the modelling on which the process plant was designed and built,” Otso said. “It is also noted that the company’s initial decision to proceed to production was made without first establishing mineral reserves supported by a feasibility study.”

Brian Wesson, President and CEO, said: “The appointment of Tetra Tech for the feasibility study is another important milestone in the return to production of the Otso gold mine.

“Management judged that the completion of a feasibility study was necessary notwithstanding the mine having a process plant, infrastructure and licences all in place – to provide further confidence in the company’s restart plan and the economics of a competent sustainable mine plan. The company has been working closely with Tetra Tech to expedite the feasibility study.”

Back in March 2019, Nordic Gold (the previous owners of the mine) terminated its agreement with mining contractor Tallqvist Oy and decided to place the Laiva (now Otso) gold mine on care and maintenance, months after pouring first gold.

SRK, Coffey and Royal IHC to work on Giyani’s K.Hill manganese feasibility study

Energy minerals, Mineral exploration, Mineral project development, Mining services, Steel and iron ore, , , , , , , , , ,

Giyani Metals has completed the feasibility study tendering process for its K.Hill manganese project, in Botswana, selecting SRK Consulting and a joint bid by Coffey, a Tetra Tech Company, and Royal IHC to conduct the study.

The tendering process began in early November with six service providers invited to bid.

The scope of work in the request for proposal (RFP) was divided into two work packages to run in parallel.

Work Package 1 (WP1) encompasses all the technical mining disciplines but will exclude processing, infrastructure and environmental/social. Work Package 2 (WP2) mainly encompasses the processing, infrastructure, and project execution disciplines.

Bidders were given the option to bid for both work packages, but the RFP stated that work packages may be awarded individually.

SOURCE: Manganese Metal Company, South Africa

SRK, who completed the preliminary economic assessment for K.Hill earlier this year, was awarded WP1 while WP2 was awarded to the joint Coffey and Royal IHC bid. On the latter, the company said: “The joint bid provides Giyani with specialised experience from Tetra Tech in the process of making electrolytic manganese metal (EMM – pictured) in a solvent extraction/electrowinning plant and mining engineering and construction experience from Royal IHC.”

The environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) was tendered separately and bids are currently being assessed by the company, Giyani said.

Giyani will now move to the contracting phase which commences with a site visit with SRK, Coffey, and Royal IHC during the week of December 16.

Robin Birchall, CEO of Giyani, said: “Commencing the FS for K.Hill, along with the ESIA which we will kick off shortly thereafter, is a very important step forward, one that will prepare the company for the next and most important phase of its development, becoming one of the leading independent producers of high purity manganese for the battery electric vehicle market.”

Mike Beare, Project Manager for SRK, said: “SRK is very much looking forward to building on the work of the PEA and applying its skills to further development of the K.Hill project. This will assist Giyani with their continued growth into the burgeoning battery metals sector which we see as an area of considerable investment in years to come.”

Jacques du Toit, Project Director for Coffey & Derk Hartman, Director EPC & Project Delivery for IHC Mining, part of the Royal IHC Group, said: “We recognise that Giyani’s K.Hill manganese project offers outstanding potential for investors and look forward to providing our combined services and solutions to Giyani for the development of the K.Hill manganese project.”

The PEA on K.Hill was based on the 1.1 Mt inferred resource and showed a nine-year potential life of mine producing 245,000 t of what the company called “high-purity electrolytic manganese metal” (HPEMM). Pre-production capital was estimated at $108.5 million and the post-tax net present value (10% discount) was estimated at $285 million based on a projected average price of $4,700/t for HPEMM of 99.9% Mn over the life.