Tag Archives: Romania

Vast Resources forecasts production uptick as Mantis production drill rigs boost performance

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Copper concentrate production at Vast Resources’ Baita Plai polymetallic (copper-gold-silver-zinc-lead-moly) mine in Romania continued to trend upwards in the June quarter, with the London-listed company expecting further output gains in the September quarter thanks to the use of a Mantis CMR4 production drill rigs that can help the company access more underground mining areas.

The June quarter results were in line with the company’s expectations, with concentrate production coming in at 268.8 t, compared with 229 t in the same quarter of 2021.

The tonnes milled for the period declined slightly by 6% to 11,292 t, with the grade rising 33% year-on-year to 0.6% Cu. Ore mined increased by 3.5% to 13,020 t for the period.

Looking forward to the September quarter and beyond, the company says it continues to forecast a substantial increase in copper concentrate tonnage produced due to the successful implementation of the Mantis CMR4 production drilling rig to access the ore on 17 level, as well as the increased ability to process ore due to the second milling circuit being commissioned, which has lifted capacity to 14,000 t/mth.

Back in May, Vast Resources announced that the first of two Mantis CMR4 production drilling rigs equipped with the latest Doofor rock drills had successfully completed functional drill testing underground. The Mantis is made by South African company Fabchem, through its subsidiary, Conax Machine Solutions, in Springs, Gauteng, which manufactures, refurbishes and repairs roof bolters and hydraulic rock drills, with its flagship manufactured products being the Mantis bolters and drills.

In addition to the increase in copper concentrate produced expected going forward, a substantial increase in the number of primary metres developed is forecast. This is due to the implementation of the second Mantis rig on the main belt incline on 18 level, whereby the original mine plan envisaged can be brought online, Vast Resources said. Current advances per blast from the main belt decline vary between 2-2.2 m per blast, which the company says is an excellent ratio to the length of hole drilled to the achieved advance.

The company explained: “The drill rig was extensively tested in a non-production environment to ascertain the capabilities of the machine for long hole production drilling. The drill rig has successfully completed a number of holes at varying inclinations, including vertically down, to depths of up to 12 m. The machine is currently deployed on 17 level in the production area drilling the first set of long holes for long hole production blasting.”

Vast Resources plans to remotely operate its Aramine L130D narrow-vein LHD

The accompanying remotely operated Aramine L130D LHD has arrived at the mine and was successfully transported underground, Vast Resources said. The machine, which is designed for narrow-vein applications, is currently undergoing testing and operator training inside the working stope below 17 level, it added.

Vast Resources to leverage new equipment and XRT ore sorting at Baita Plai

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Vast Resources has devised a new mechanised mine plan for its Baita Plai polymetallic mine in Romania that will see mining capacity increase by 65% and ore sorting employed to increase mill feed grades.

The new mine plan includes the acquisition of three LHDs (including at least one narrow-vein electric LHD), an Aramine face jumbo drill rig, two Resemin Muki 22 long hole drilling rigs and a TOMRA X-ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorter.

Execution risk is expected to be significantly reduced compared with the old labour-intensive plan through the employment of senior international staff; the use of increased mechanisation; and the fact that shortly, with the expediated development plan now possible through the new equipment, the mining areas will be in areas newly drilled by the company and not in less stable old mining areas, the company said.

The company, in co-operation with TOMRA Mining, has concluded an initial investigation on ore from Baita Plai as part of the development of the new mining and processing plan. The objective of the work was to determine the amenability of ore from Baita Plai to be pre-concentrated using TOMRA sensor-based sorting technologies to produce a high-grade pre-concentrate, pre-milling feed.

“The study showed a clear amenability for the ore to be separated using TOMRA’s advanced XRT technology to identify both massive mineralisations, as well as fine mineral inclusions, using its proprietary combination detection algorithms to produce a high-grade pre-concentrate and eliminate non-grade containing waste material,” the company said.

The XRT implementation and processing plant upgrades are set to be completed by December 2021, the company said, with mill feed grades expected to be concentrated by 1.25-1.75 times. This would see the sensor-based sorter shift 60% of tonnage into the accept stream for the mill and 40% into the reject stream, with a 92% yield in the accept tonnage.

The new mine plan presents a cost reduction of 21% in dollars per mined tonne with an operational efficiency of 63 tonnes per total employee costed (TEC) at steady state, versus the previous plan efficiency metric of 43 tonnes per TEC, Vast Resources said. It also sees mining capacity rise to 22,000 t/mth, from 13,300 t/mth.

Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive Officer of Vast Resources, said: “This is a robust and comprehensive mine plan which has been developed using rigorous technical parameters. On behalf of the board, I believe the plan set out to shareholders today represents a benchmark for us to deliver on over the coming years in tandem with our broader expansion plans at Baita Plai and across our wider portfolio.”

Euro Sun Mining plots Rovina Valley gold-copper production route in DFS

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Euro Sun Mining’s definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the Rovina Valley gold and copper project in Romania has outlined the development of two open-pit mines for a 21,000 t/d operation producing 132,000 oz of gold-equivalent over a 16.8-year mine life.

The company plans to use a phased development approach at Rovina Valley, with the development of the two open pit gold-copper deposits, Colnic and Rovina, included in the DFS and the exploitation of the Ciresata underground deposit (not included in the study) phased in following completion of open-pit mining. Ciresata is envisioned as a bulk underground mining operation and will be evaluated for its economic potential in a later study, the company added.

Estimated initial capital expenditure came in at $399 million (including $12.7 million in pre-strip), with average all-in sustaining costs of $813/oz of gold-equivalent. Using $1,550/oz gold and $3.30/lb copper prices, the post-tax net present value (5% discount) came in at $359 million.

These results were broadly in line with a May 2020 target of outlining a DFS with an 18-year mine life, with initial capital expenditure in line with the preliminary economic assessment – which showed off a capital expenditure bill of $339.7 million.

The Rovina Valley project is planned to be mined with a standard open-pit mining method using articulated trucks and a hydraulic loader. The open-pit mining operation is anticipated to last around 16.5 years, during which the lower-grade material will be stockpiled on a pad close to the primary crusher location for treatment over another 18 months. The DFS incorporates simple flotation without the use of cyanide and dry-stack tailings, the company said.

On the latter, the company said: “KCB have designed a waste management facility within the project area for the co-deposition of waste rock and filtered rougher tailings. Process plant rougher tailings will be filtered in the plant where the resultant filter cake will be transported by conveyors and will be co-mingled with waste rock prior to deposition. The cleaner tails will be filtered separately from the rougher tailings and the resultant filter cake will be transported by conveyors and deposited separately within a lined zone contained within the boundary of the co-mingled facility and will be stored separately in a lined zone of the waste management facility.”

Euro Sun said the design had been engineered to reduce the risk of development of impacted seepage from potentially acid-generating waste rock and capture the impacted seepage from the cleaner tailings.

“After completion of mining the Colnic pit, the waste rock and rougher tailings will be preferentially backfilled into the Colnic pit, while the cleaner tails will continue to report to the lined zone of the waste management facility,” it added.

The company said it is targeting first production from Rovina Valley in 2024.

Euro Sun Mining taps SENET for Rovina Valley project DFS

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Euro Sun Mining says it has given DRA Group’s SENET the task of delivering a definitive feasibility study on the Rovina Valley Project, in Romania.

SENET, a leading project management and engineering firm in the field of mineral processing, has completed in excess of 200 projects and facilities, as well as over 300 studies, in which the scope of work has included a variety of mineral/metallurgical process plants, crushing and screening plants and bulk materials handling facilities for mining and industrial applications, according to Euro Sun.

The engineering firm will oversee and consolidate studies from a number of industry experts to fast-track the study in order for Euro Sun to be able to start construction on its Rovina Mining License, Euro Sun said, adding that the study is expected to be completed by year end.

A February 2019 preliminary economic assessment on Rovina, which factored in only circa-29% of total mineral resources, estimated average annual production of 139,000 oz of gold-equivalent over a 12-year mine life. This came with a capital expenditure bill of $339.7 million, including $264 million for a central plant built for all three deposits.

The company is targeting an 18-year mine life, with initial capital expenditure in line with the PEA, in this updated study.

Darren Naylor, Managing Director of SENET, said: “We are excited to be awarded the study on such an exciting project and are very excited about the prospect of supporting Euro Sun in delivering a world-class study. We believe that our track record in delivering projects on time and within budget will be mutually beneficial to SENET and Euro Sun and we look forward to a long and rewarding partnership.”

Sam Rasmussen, Chief Operating Officer of Euro Sun, said: “We are very pleased to have SENET on board. SENET has time and again delivered projects in remote countries, with logistical and cross-border challenges, and this is the type of expertise we require to take Rovina to the ‘ready for construction’ phase. SENET has a reputation for delivering projects on time and within budget and this is why we have appointed them on this project.”