Business Reporter -
MUSCAT, JUNE 17 -
London registered mineral development company Savannah Resources says it plans to kickstart operations at a pair of mineral blocks in the Samayil Ophiolite Belt in the first half of next year.
It follows an announcement that the company has received initial advice from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA) on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the development of a processing plant and tailings facility for its Block 4 and 5 copper projects in the Sultanate.
Savannah says it has received in-principle approval for its tailings storage facility (TSF) concept, subject to further studies and test work being presented to MECA for review and consideration. The TSF concept involves the utilisation of the abandoned Lasail West pit for tailings storage. The Lasail West pit is adjacent to the main, historic Lasail Mine which, as a large underground operation produced an estimated 13 million tonnes of ore at 2 per cent copper, and which retains excellent potential for the identification of further copper mineralisation.
All regulatory applications for copper mine development at both Mahab 4 and Maqail South have now been submitted, said Savannah Resources. Licensing approval process continues to progress but is taking longer than initially anticipated, which has resulted in some time loss to the proposed production schedule, it stated, adding that mining is expected to commence in H1 2018.
Savannah’s CEO, David Archer said, “We are pleased that MECA has given us the green-light to consider the TSF concept we have suggested around the use of the existing abandoned Lasail West pit. This would be the first TSF of its type in Oman and we believe it would provide Savannah with an economic avenue for safe tailings storage, and at the same time would result in the overall rehabilitation of the Lasail West site, which remains of strategic resource value to the Company.
“The preliminary approval of the TSF represents another major step forward towards commencing copper production. Whilst the overall licensing process for our mine development is taking longer than we had initially planned, which means we are now anticipating mining to start in the first half of 2018, we remain confident that these assets will be advanced into production in the near term. Our team and consultants continue to push to conclude the licensing process and we look forward to providing shareholders with further updates as appropriate.”
Savannah is earning a 65 per cent shareholding in the Omani company, Al Thuraya LLC, the owner of the Block 4 Project and is a 65 per cent shareholder in Al Fairuz Mining, the holder of the Block 5 licence.
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