Mawson West Limited ("Mawson West" or "the Company") is pleased to announce Board approval for the commencement of underground mining activities at the Company's Dikulushi copper-silver mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC").
Underground mining is likely to extend production from the Dikulushi operations until at least Q3 2014 and provides the opportunity for Mawson West to continue to evaluate further underground mining potential, as well as the economic viability of identified satellite deposits.
Overview
Mawson West is currently producing copper and silver at Dikulushi by processing stockpiled material from its open pit operations, which is scheduled to continue into December 2013.
Commencement of underground mining extends the mine life at Dikulushi. The current Mineral Reserve supports an initial mine life of nine months at a production rate, after initial ramp-up, of 800 tonnes of copper and 65,000 ounces of silver per month. It is anticipated that the mine life could be extended by progressively converting the large Inferred Resource below the current Reserve. Increased production rates may be possible as Mawson West stabilizes production and assesses alternative, more productive mining methods. The initial mine schedule will utilize approximately 60% of the current process plant capacity. Satellite deposits presently being evaluated may utilize the remaining capacity in future periods.
Mawson West Chief Executive Bruce McFadzean said:
"Commencement of underground mining at Dikulushi is a milestone for Mawson West as we pursue our strategy of prudent growth in copper production from our operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dikulushi is a deposit that we know and understand. It has significant existing underground infrastructure in place, reducing the capital expenditure required to develop the project."
Underground Mining Strategy
The initial mining schedule plans for concurrent mining of multiple headings between the 720RL and 805RL (approximately 200 to 280 metres below surface), commencing from levels that were previously developed. A simple approach of strike driving followed by backfilling with cemented rock fill has been adopted to minimize the geotechnical risk.
The currently defined underground Mineral Reserve of 173,000t @ 5.2% Cu, 127g/t Ag (Table 1) is expected to provide an initial nine month mine life. The longer term mine schedule proposes extraction of material presently classified as Inferred Resources.
Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
The disclosure in this news release has been prepared under the supervision of Andrew Law, MMin, MBA, FAusIMM of Optiro, a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the content of this news release.