VANCOUVER, Oct. 9, 2012 /CNW/ - Plains Creek Phosphate Corporation
("Plains Creek", the "Company") is pleased to announce the positive
results of the two feasibility studies (the "Feasibility Studies")
for two production alternatives: firstly, the 1 Million tonne per
year Beneficiated Phosphate Rock Concentrate ("BPRC") Project; and
secondly, the 1.3 Million tonne per year Direct Shipping Option
("DSO") Phosphate Rock Project. The Feasibility Studies were
prepared by GBM Minerals Engineering Consultants Limited ("GBMMEC")
in conjunction with Golder Associates Limited ("Golder"), GEEEM
Consultants and Tropica Environmental, all of whom are independent
of the Company. These two production alternatives address the first
phase of development of the GB Minerals AG ("GBMAG") Farim
Phosphate Project (the "Project") in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.
The second phase is to mine and process the remainder of the
Project's phosphate deposit including the production of
2 Million tonnes per year of beneficiated phosphate rock
concentrate with an open pit mine, processing plant, pipeline, and
port construction, which will be assessed in a separate feasibility
study. Background The Project is located in the northern part of
central Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, approximately 25 km south
of the Senegal border, approximately 5 km west of the town of
Farim and some 120 km north of Bissau, the capital of
Guinea-Bissau. The Project consists of a high grade sedimentary
phosphate deposit of one continuous phosphate bed (known as the FPA
layer), which extends over a known surface area of approximately
40 km². Studies and investigations have been underway on the
Project since February 2011 and as work progressed a number of
alternative production scenarios have been investigated in order to
maximize the project value, reduce time to production, minimize
development capital and accommodate the phosphate market demand. As
a result, GBMAG and the Company are now targeting the two-phased
development of the Project as an open pit mining operation. Three
production scenario alternatives for the progressive development of
the Project, depending on the phosphate market conditions, the
economic and political climate in Guinea-Bissau, and the
availability of capital and skilled manpower to develop the Project
have been investigated as follows: Phase One -- 1.3 Million tonne
per year Direct Shipping Option (DSO) Phosphate Rock product
production alternative; -- 1 Million tonne per year Beneficiated
Phosphate Rock Concentrate product (BPRC) production alternative;
and Phase Two -- 2 Million tonne per year Phosphate Rock
Concentrate production alternative, which includes an open pit
mine, processing plant, pipeline, and port construction to be
assessed in a separate feasibility study. Mining Agreement, Mining
Lease and Production License A Mining Agreement was negotiated in
May 2009 in terms of which GBMAG was granted a Mining Lease and a
Production License by the Guinea-Bissau Government, which includes
the Project. Included within this Mining Agreement are numerous
permissions and incentives that have influenced the development and
production plans for the Project. Mineral Resources As previously
announced by the Company on 5(th) September 2012, the Mineral
Resource Estimate for the Project was completed by the Qualified
Person, Dr. Marcelo Godoy of Golder in Santiago, Chile. Dr.
Godoy meets the requirements of a Qualified Person for the purposes
of NI 43-101 reporting and is independent from the Company.
The Mineral Resource Estimate defines a Measured Resource of 64.6
Mt at an average grade of 29.11% P(2)O(5), an Indicated Resource of
28.1 Mt at an average grade of 27.68% P(2)O(5) and an Inferred
Resource of 18.3 Mt at an average grade of
28.66% P(2)O(5). No recoveries or dilution factors
have been considered in this estimate and the estimate is strictly
in situ, in accordance with NI 43-101 reporting guidelines for
resources. Mining Plan Within the Project, areas having a Measured
and Indicated Resource of 32.60 million tonnes of phosphate rock
have been identified with an average P(2)O(5) grade in excess of
30%, and favorable mining stripping ratios, which are suitable for
either a BPRC Project or a DSO Project. A 25 year mine plan has
been prepared as part of the Feasibility Studies for either the
BPRC production alternative which produces 1 Million tonnes
per year of phosphate rock concentrate at an average grade of 33.1%
P(2)O(5) and 1.6% Fe(2)O(3) and 1.4% Al(2)O(3);( )or the DSO
production alternative which produces 1.3 Million tonnes per year
of phosphate rock at an average grade of 30.4 % P(2)O(5) and 4.4%
Fe(2)O(3) and 2.5% Al(2)O(3). A. 1 Million Tonnes Per Year
BPRC Project Feasibility Study Overview 1 Million Tonne Per Year
BPRC Project - Process Flow The BPRC Project Feasibility Study
encompasses the following general process flow: -- Annual
production rate of 1 Million tonnes per year of beneficiated
phosphate rock concentrate. -- Contractor mining. -- Removal of
overburden by a combination of excavators and trucks. -- The
average strip ratio over the 25 year mine plan is 7.4:1 [bank cubic
meters (bcm) overburden : tonne phosphate rock ("Matrix")]. The
average thickness of phosphate deposit within the 25 year mine plan
is approximately 4 meters over the life of the BPRC Project.
Average annual overburden production is 3.6 Million cubic meters.
-- 1.3 Million tonnes per year of Run of Mine (ROM) phosphate
matrix removed by excavator and truck to a 130,000 tonne ROM pad
for storage and beneficiation. The ROM pad is located some 1.5 km
from the open pit and adjacent to the barge loading facility at an
area known as Canico, on the River Cacheu. -- ROM phosphate matrix
is removed from the ROM pad and processed in the beneficiation
plant to produce a phosphate rock concentrate product which is
stockpiled at Canico in a 30,000 tonne stockpile which feeds a
conveyor for barge loading. Recoveries of 78% by weight, have been
determined from metallurgical test work and process design, which
will result in the production of approximately 1 million tonnes per
year of phosphate rock concentrate product. -- Barges of up to
3,500 tonnes capacity will be moored to a pontoon at Canico. A set
of four barges will form a flotilla that will be maneuvered by a
'Pusher' tug to a barge marshalling area at Bolor in the River
Cacheu estuary. -- The barges will then be maneuvered by tug to an
offshore trans-shipment point offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, where
the phosphate rock will be loaded onto carriers (bulk carrier
vessel of up to 28,000 tonnes capacity) by its own ship's gear. --
The battery limit for the BPRC Project is the phosphate rock
concentrate product loaded into the hold of the bulk carriers. --
Phosphate rock concentrate product will also be available for
supply to the in-country market as a direct application fertilizer.
1 Million Tonnes Per Year BPRC Project - Economic Analysis Key
Criteria and Highlights A summary of the project parameters is
provided in Table 1, below. A pre-tax cash flow projection has been
generated for a 25 year mine life using the estimated capital and
operating costs that are summarized in Table 2, further
below. All amounts
in US dollars Table 1: Summary of Physical Parameters of the BPRC
Project
_______________________________________________________________ |
Physical Parameter | Value |
|__________________________|____________________________________|
|Mine Life |25 Years |
|__________________________|____________________________________|
|Construction Period |2 Years |
|__________________________|____________________________________|
|Operation |304 days per year |
|__________________________|____________________________________|
|Production Rate |1,300,000 ROM tonnes per year | | |phosphate
matrix |
|__________________________|____________________________________|
|Total Life of Mine Product|25 million tonnes phosphate rock |
|Production |concentrate |
|__________________________|____________________________________|
|Average Product Grade |33.1% P2O5 @ 1.6% Fe2O3 and 1.4 % | |
|Al2O3 |
|__________________________|____________________________________|
|Annual Product Sales |1,000,000 tonnes phosphate rock | |
|concentrate |
|__________________________|____________________________________|
|Revenue Guidance Estimate |$150 USD per tonne of phosphate rock| |
|concentrate FOB |
|__________________________|____________________________________|
Table 2: Summary of BPRC Project Costs
____________________________________________________________________
| Operating Costs | Life of Mine |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Mining |$ 47.35 per tonne phosphate rock | | |concentrate |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Marine |$5.92 per tonne phosphate rock | | |concentrate |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Personnel |$4.42 per tonne phosphate rock | | |concentrate |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Electricity |$9.62 per tonne phosphate rock | | |concentrate |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Reagents |$ 0.23 per tonne phosphate rock | | |concentrate |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Fuel |$3.64 per tonne phosphate rock | | |concentrate |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Maintenance |$ 2.68 per tonne phosphate rock | | |concentrate |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Total |$ 73.87 USD per tonnephosphate rock| | |concentrate |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
| Capital costs (life of mine) | Life of Mine |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Pre-production stripping (incl. |USD $ 10.98 million |
|mobilisation) | |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Mine, Marine & Infrastructure |USD $ 153.19 million | |(incl.
contingency) | |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Total Mine Capital Cost |US$ 164.17 million |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Sustaining |USD $ 122.11 million |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Closure |USD $ 2.87 million |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Total Life of Mine Capital Cost |USD $ 289.15 million | |(incl.
contingency) | |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Contingencies |17.31 % |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Accuracy |+/-15 % |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
|Royalties 2% |2 % |
|________________________________|___________________________________|
Estimated mining costs include all costs related to land clearing,
drainage and water control, pit dewatering, waste stripping,
overburden transport and dump management, phosphate matrix mining
and transport to beneficiation plant, beneficiated phosphate rock
transport to stockpiles located at the barge loading facility, and
reclamation. The estimated processing costs include all costs
related to the beneficiation of the phosphate matrix and subsequent
dewatering for the production of a phosphate rock concentrate ready
for sale. The estimated product handling and transport costs
include all handling and storage costs for the phosphate rock
concentrate at Canico. Also included is the barge loading and
transport of the phosphate rock concentrate. Table 3 shows the
capital cost estimate breakdown by project area. Table 3: Project
CAPEX Estimate (Area Breakdown)
___________________________________________________________________
|Area #| Area Name | Fixed |Contingency|Total Capital|Percent
Total| | | |Capital| (M USD) | (M USD) | | | | |(M USD)| | | |
|______|____________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
|000 |Project | 33.48| 4.20| 37.68| 23%| | |General | | | | |
|______|____________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
|100 |Mine | 28.46| 5.30| 33.76| 21%|
|______|____________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
|200 |Processing | 35.38| 7.55| 42.93| 26%|
|______|____________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
|300 |Product | 42.64| 7.17| 49.80| 30%| | |Handling and| | | | | |
|Transport | | | | |
|______|____________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
| |Total | 139.95| 24.22| 164.17| 100%|
|______|____________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
Capital estimates include mine facilities, beneficiation plant and
infrastructure, mining equipment, dewatering wells, stockpile
loader, dyke construction, stockpile area, ex-pit haul road
construction and barges. The Project's cash flow analysis is shown
in Table 4, below. Table 4: Cash Flow Analysis
________________________________________________________________________________
|Units | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |2020-2038|
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
|Production:| | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| ROM '000 | 0 | 0 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300
| |tonne | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| Sales | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
|'000 tonne | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| Price | 0 | 0 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 | |Phosphate |
| | | | | | | | |product | | | | | | | | | |USD $/t | | | | | | | |
|
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| Sales USD| 0 | 0
|150,000|150,000|150,000|150,000|150,000|3,000,000| |$ '000 | | | |
| | | | |
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
|Cost of | | | | | | | | | |Sales: | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| Operating| 0 | 0 | 67.17 | 67.05 | 69.42 | 69.44 | 71.04 | 75.10
| |cost USD | | | | | | | | | |$/t | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| Total | 0 | 0 |67,168 |67,051 |69,417 |69,437 |71,042 |1,502,584|
|operating | | | | | | | | | |cost USD $ | | | | | | | | | |'000 |
| | | | | | | |
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| EBITDA | 0 | 0 |82,832 |82,949 |80,583 |80,563 |78,958
|1,497,416| |USD $ '000 | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| CAPEX | 41,000 | 123,169 |12,945 | 3,779 | 6,255 | 3,779 | 5,593
| 92,629 | |USD $ '000 | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| Net cash |(41,000)|(123,169)|69,887 |79,170 |74,328 |76,784
|73,365 |1,404,787| |flow before| | | | | | | | | |tax and | | | |
| | | | | |royalties | | | | | | | | | |USD $ '000 | | | | | | | |
|
|___________|________|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
Considering the BPRC Project on a stand-alone basis, the
undiscounted pre-tax cash flow totals US$ 1.614 billion over
the 25 year mine life. Operating cash flow averages US$ 71.13
million per year and simple payback of total preproduction capital
is achieved after approximately 2 years of operation. EBITDA as
disclosed in the table above is a non-GAAP financial measure and
does not have a standardized meaning and is therefore unlikely to
be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. The
Project has a 10 year tax holiday as part of its Mining Agreement.
The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is 41%. Pre-tax Net Present Value
(NPV) at various discount rates is shown in Table 5, below. Table
5: Pre-tax NPV Sensitivity to Discount Rate
_____________________________________ | Rate | NPV |
|__________________|__________________| |0 % (Undiscounted)|USD
$1,614 million| |__________________|__________________| |5 % |USD
$764 million | |__________________|__________________| |10 % |USD
$402million | |__________________|__________________| |15 % |USD
$226 million | |__________________|__________________| |20 % |USD
$131 million | |__________________|__________________| |25 % |USD
$40 million | |__________________|__________________| The Company
expects to receive the finalized figures for its reserves estimates
shortly, which will be disclosed once received and will be included
in the finalized Feasibility Studies. B. 1.3 Million Tonnes
Per Year DSO Project Feasibility Study Overview 1.3 Million Tonnes
Per Year DSO Project - Process Flow The DSO Project Feasibility
Study encompasses the following general process flow: -- Annual
production rate of 1.3 Mt per year of phosphate rock product. --
Contractor mining. -- Removal of overburden by a combination of
excavators and trucks. -- The average strip ratio over the 25 year
mine plan is 7.4:1 [bank cubic meters (bcm) overburden : tonne
phosphate rock ("Matrix")]. The average thickness of phosphate
deposit within the 25 year mine plan is approximately 4 meters over
the life of the DSO Project. Average annual overburden production
is 3.6 Million cubic meters. -- 1.3 million Tonnes per annum of Run
of Mine (ROM) phosphate matrix removed by excavator and truck and
transported to a 130,000 tonne ROM pad for storage and blending.
The ROM pad is located some 1.5 km from the open pit and adjacent
to the barge loading facility at Canico, on the Cacheu River.
Phosphate rock is transferred from the ROM pad to the barge loading
facility by front end loader. -- Barges having sizes of up to 3,500
tonnes capacity will be moored to a pontoon at Cancio. A set of
four barges will form a flotilla that will be maneuvered by a
'Pusher' tug to a barge marshalling area at Bolor in the River
Cacheu estuary. -- The barges will then be maneuvered by tug to an
offshore trans-shipment point offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, where
the phosphate rock product will be loaded onto carriers (bulk
carrier vessel of 28,000 tonnes capacity) by its own ship's gear.
-- The battery limit of this DSO option is phosphate rock product
loaded into the hold of the bulk carriers. -- ROM phosphate rock
product will also be available for supply to the in-country market
as a direct application fertilizer. 1.3 Million Tonne Per Year DSO
Project - Economic Analysis Key Criteria and Highlights A summary
of key criteria is provided in Table 6, below. A pre-tax cash flow
projection has been generated for a 25 year mine life using
estimated capital and operating costs, which are summarized in
Table 7, further below. All amounts in US dollars Table 6: Summary
of Physical Parameters of the DSO Project
_____________________________________________________________________
| Physical Parameter | Value |
|_____________________________|_______________________________________|
|Mine Life |25 Years |
|_____________________________|_______________________________________|
|Construction Period |2 Years |
|_____________________________|_______________________________________|
|Operation |304 days per year |
|_____________________________|_______________________________________|
|Production Rate |1,300,000 ROM tonnes per year phosphate| |
|product |
|_____________________________|_______________________________________|
|Total Life of Mine Production|32.99 million tonnes phosphate
product |
|_____________________________|_______________________________________|
|Average Product Grade |30.4 % P2O5 @ 2.5% Al2O3; 4.4% Fe2O3 |
|_____________________________|_______________________________________|
|Annual Product Sales |1,300,000 tonnes phosphate product |
|_____________________________|_______________________________________|
|Revenue Guidance Estimate |$110 USD per tonne of phosphate FOB | |
|(Port Cacheu) |
|_____________________________|_______________________________________|
Table 7: Summary of DSO Project Costs
___________________________________________________________________
| Operating Costs | Life of Mine |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Mining |$ 36.03 per tonne of phosphate | | |product |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Marine |$ 4.49 per tonne of phosphate | | |product |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Personnel |$ 3.19 per tonne of phosphate | | |product |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Fuel and Electricity |$ 0.66 per tonne of phosphate | | |product |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Maintenance |$ 1.34 per tonne of phosphate | | |product |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Total |$ 45.71 USD per tonne of phosphate| | |product |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
| Capital costs (life of mine) | Life of Mine |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Pre-production stripping (incl. |USD $ 10.98 million |
|mobilisation) | |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Mine, Marine & Infrastructure |USD $ 98.18 million | |(incl.
contingency) | |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Total Mine Capital Cost |US$ 109.16 million |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Sustaining |USD $ 95.32 million |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Closure |USD $ 0.71 million |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Total Life of Mine Capital Cost |USD $ 205.18 million | |(incl.
contingency) | |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Contingencies |17.46% |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Accuracy |+/-15% |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
|Royalties 2% |2 % |
|________________________________|__________________________________|
Capital costs have been further estimated as follows: Table 8: DSO
Project CAPEX Estimate (Area Breakdown)
_________________________________________________________________
|Area #|Area Name |Fixed |Contingency|Total Capital|Percent Total|
| | |Capital| [M USD] | [M USD] | [M USD] | | | |[M USD]| | | |
|______|__________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
|000 |Project |22.75 |3.73 |26.45 |24% | | |General | | | | |
|______|__________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
|100 |Mine |28.51 |5.3 |33.81 |31% |
|______|__________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
|300 |Product |41.70 |7.20 |48.90 |45% | | |Handling &| | | | |
| |Transport | | | | |
|______|__________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
| |Total |92.96 |16.23 |109.16 |100% |
|______|__________|_______|___________|_____________|_____________|
Capital estimates include mine facilities and infrastructure,
mining equipment, dewatering wells, stockpile loader, dyke
construction, stockpile area, ex-pit haul road construction and
barges. Table 9: Cash Flow Analysis
_______________________________________________________________________________
| Units | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019
|2020-2038|
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
|Production:| | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| ROM | 0 | 0 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300 |
|'000 tonne | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
|Price | 0 | 0 | 110 | 110 | 110 | 110 | 110 | 110 | |Phosphate | |
| | | | | | | |product | | | | | | | | | |USD $ / t | | | | | | | |
|
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| Sales | 0 | 0 |143,000|143,000|143,000|143,000|143,000|2,860,000|
|USD $ '000 | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
|Cost of | | | | | | | | | |Sales: | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| Operating| 0 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 42 | 42 | 44 | 47 | |cost USD | | |
| | | | | | |$/t | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| Total | 0 | 0 |52,762 |52,750 |55,027 |55,039 |56,631 |1,213,633|
|operating | | | | | | | | | |cost USD $ | | | | | | | | | |'000 |
| | | | | | | |
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| EBITDA | 0 | 0 |90,238 |90,250 |87,973 |87,961 |86,369
|1,646,367| |USD $ '000 | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
| CAPEX | 27,000 | 82,157 |12,628 | 3,461 | 5,937 | 3,461 | 5,275 |
65,265 | |USD $ '000 | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
|Net cash |(27,000)|(82,157)|77,611 |86,789 |82,036 |84,500 |81,093
|1,581,103| |flow before| | | | | | | | | |tax and | | | | | | | |
| |royalties | | | | | | | | | |USD $ '000 | | | | | | | | |
|___________|________|________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|
Considering the DSO Project on a stand-alone basis, the
undiscounted pre-tax cash flow totals US$ 1.884 billion over
the 25 year mine life. Operating cash flow averages US$ 79.73
million per year and simple payback of total preproduction capital
is achieved after approximately 18 months of operation. EBITDA as
disclosed in the table above is a non-GAAP financial measure and
does not have a standardized meaning and is therefore unlikely to
be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. The
Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is 65%. Pre-tax Net Present Value
(NPV) at various discount rates is shown in Table 10, below.
Table 10: Pre-tax NPV Sensitivity to Discount Rate
_____________________________________ | Rate | NPV |
|__________________|__________________| |0 % (Undiscounted)|USD
$1.884 million| |__________________|__________________| |5 % |USD
$923 million | |__________________|__________________| |10 % |USD
$511 million | |__________________|__________________| |15 % |USD
$309million | |__________________|__________________| |20 % |USD
$199 million | |__________________|__________________| |25 % |USD
$132 million | |__________________|__________________| The Company
expects to receive the finalized figures for its reserves estimates
shortly, which will be disclosed once received and will be included
in the finalized Feasibility Studies. Mining The same mining plan
is used for the BPRC and DSO Projects. The majority of the annual
rainfall over the Project area is concentrated in the period from
July through September, and the Project mine plan will carry out
mining activities for 10 months out of the year to avoid the
possible inefficiencies of mining during the higher rainfall
months. Installed mining equipment capacity has been designed
to produce the annual plan phosphate requirements and associated
waste stripping within the 10 drier months of the year. Key
design elements of the mining plan are water management and haul
road maintenance. All mining areas must be fully dewatered in
advance of mining activities. The proximity of the mine to the
River Cacheu will require the construction of a protection dyke to
prevent in-pit flooding. Contractor mining has been selected for
the excavator/truck mining method for the mining plan based on
flexibility, lower initial capital, lower investment risk, grade
control, and the ability to blend quality for required product
specifications. Contractor mining has been proposed to minimize
capital investment and to shorten the period to production which
could arise from the availability of mining capital equipment and
the shortage of in country manpower skills. The remote nature of
the Project, with the lack of power supply, precludes the use of
electric mining equipment and all mining equipment selected for the
Project will use diesel mobile equipment. The mining method uses
excavators and trucks to handle 100% of the overburden and
phosphate. Waste will be stripped and removed with 11 m(3 )to
12 m(3) bucket front-end loaders or small hydraulic excavators
matched with 50 ton haul trucks. The phosphate will be
mined with 3 m(3 )to 4 m(3) bucket class backhoes matched
with 35 ton trucks. The mining operation in both the 1.0
Million Tonnes Per Year BPRC and the 1.3 Million Tonnes Per Year
DSO Feasibility Study options will mine phosphate matrix and will
require an overburden storage facility capable of holding
4 Mm(3), to be used for the first 3 to 4 years of operations
before back filling of the mined out areas takes place. The
facility will be approximately 25 m high with a footprint of
1,000 meters by 1,500 meters. Beneficiation The BPRC
Project has a four stage beneficiation process - screening,
hydrocyclones, magnetic separators and dewatering, and will require
a tailings management facility (TMF) capable of holding 4 Mm³.
A site selection study of eight possible tailings storage locations
has indicated a preferred location to the west of the open pit,
2 km northwest of the beneficiation plant. For the DSO
Project, the ROM phosphate will be mined, blended if necessary, and
will be directly shipped with limited treatment or processing (if
any). Project Infrastructure The infrastructure requirements
associated with the DSO and/or BPRC projects include the mine
infrastructure, mine camp, offices, workshops, water treatment
facilities, diesel or heavy oil power generation and water supply.
River Transport and Loading The river transport and loading
activities are common to the Feasibility Studies of both the BPRC
Project and the DSO Project. Transfer of the phosphate product,
either DSO phosphate rock from the ROM pad to the loading facility
located on the Cacheu River at Canico, or the beneficiated
phosphate rock concentrate product from the product stockpile into
the barges and the transport down the river to a bulk solids
carrier at the River Cacheu estuary, will be undertaken by the
Company. A barge loading facility will be constructed on the Cacheu
River at Canico. The selected site is located adjacent to the
mining operation/beneficiation site to minimise haulage. Phosphate
product will be stockpiled and transferred to the barge loading
facility by a front end loader. The loading facility will receive
the phosphate discharged from a front end loader into a feed
hopper. The hopper will feed a conveyor system to load 3,000 to
3,500 tonne capacity non-propelled barges. Sets of barges will then
transport the products with the aid of a pusher tug down the River
Cacheu to a seagoing barge unloading vessel. The unloading vessel
will be anchored at a point accessible to the bulk solids carriers
to transfer phosphate from the barges. The barges will be unloaded
by the seagoing vessel anchored beyond the shallow waters (+ 12
meter deep) approximately 20 km offshore in the Atlantic Ocean from
Bolor, and the seagoing vessel will be equipped with clam shell
unloaders. The vessel is assumed to be able to unload five full
barges (i.e. two sets) into the cargo ship per day. A seagoing
vessel of 28,000 tonne capacity has been assessed and concluded
feasible for the unloading of phosphate at the trans-shipment point
identified. Recommendations The results of the two Feasibility
Studies show that both the BPRC and the DSO Projects are robust
from a technical and economic standpoint at the selected long term
phosphate prices, GBMMEC has recommended that the Company and GBMAG
continue to advance either of the two projects to the engineering
design and construction stages and to seek the necessary project
financing and off-take agreements. Qualified Persons Dr. Marcelo
Godoy, MAusIMM (CP) of Golder in Santiago, Chile, who is a
Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101, prepared and is
responsible for the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Farim
Phosphate Project as disclosed in this news release. In
addition, the following other Qualified Persons prepared (or
supervised and approved the preparation thereof) and are
responsible for other parts of the Feasibility Studies, which are
referred to in this news release: Michael Short, FIMMM, CEng. of
GBMMEC, Ian Jackson, B.Eng, ACSM, CEng., MIMMM (CP) of GBMMEC,
Richard Elmer, C.Eng., MIMMM (CP) of Golder, and Terry Kremmel, PE
(MO and NC), SME (CP) of Golder. All of these Qualified Persons are
independent from the Company. About Plains Creek Phosphate
Corporation Plains Creek Phosphate Corporation is a Canadian mining
and exploration company focused on advancing the Farim Phosphate
Project in Guinea‐Bissau, West Africa. The Farim Phosphate Project
currently comprises a phosphate deposit consisting of one
continuous flat lying phosphate bed with a Mineral Resource
estimate, disclosed in the Company's technical report on the
preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") of the Farim Phosphate
Project in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, which
defines a Measured Resource of 64.6 MT at an average grade of
29.11% P(2)O(5), an Indicated Resource of 28.1 Mt at an
average grade of 27.68 % P(2)O(5), and an Inferred Resource of
18.3 Mt at an average grade of 28.66 % P(2)O(5). The
PEA entitled, "Technical Report on the Preliminary Economic
Assessment of the Direct Shipping Option of the Farim Phosphate
Project, Guinea-Bissau - An NI 43-101 Report" dated effective
September 5, 2012 was authored by the Qualified Persons listed
above and was filed on SEDAR and is publicly available under the
Company's profile at www.sedar.com. A two-phased development is
planned for the Farim Phosphate Project as an open pit mining
operation. Phase One consists of a 1.3 Mt per year phosphate rock
product direct shipping option project or a 1.0 Mt per year
beneficiated phosphate rock concentrate project and Phase Two
consists of the production of 2.0 Mt per year of phosphate rock
concentrate and includes a beneficiation plant and associated
infrastructure, pipeline and port. The Company's shares are listed
on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol "PCP". For
additional information, please visit us at www.plainscreek.com. ON
BEHALF OF THE BOARD (Signed) "Carson Phillips" Carson Phillips
Vice‐President, Corporate Development and Director Cautionary
Statement Statements in this release may be viewed as
forward-looking statements. Such statements involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected. There are no assurances the Company can
fulfill such forward-statements and the Company undertakes no
obligation to update statements. Such forward looking statements
are only predictions; actual events or results may differ
materially as a result of risks facing the Company, some of which
are beyond the Company's control. In addition, pursuant to National
Instrument 43-101, the Company cautions that mineral resources that
are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic
viability. The reader should be cautioned that there are risks that
could affect the potential development of the Project's mineral
resources, which include: the political instability in Africa and
Guinea-Bissau in particular, which is where the Project is located;
and that additional financing will be required to ultimately
develop the Project and the ability to obtain such financing on
favorable terms will be affected by prevailing market
conditions. A more detailed discussion of such risks are
outlined in the Company's Management's Discussion & Analysis,
its PEA and its Filing Statement dated February 22, 2011, all of
which are filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION
SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE
TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR
ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Plains Creek Phosphate Corp.
CONTACT: Carson PhillipsVice President, Corporate Development and
DirectorTelephone: (604) 569 0721 E mail: cphillips@plainscreek.com
Copyright
GB Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:PCP)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De May 2024 a Jun 2024
GB Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:PCP)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Jun 2023 a Jun 2024
