Tiger Resources has shipped the first copper oxide concentrate under an export sales agreement to deliver concentrate from the Kipoi copper project in Katanga province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the Chambishi copper smelter in Zambia. The contract with Chambishi is for a minimum of 30,000 mt of copper concentrate at an average grade of 25% copper content from the Kipoi Stage 1 heavy media separation plant.
The Kipoi project is located in the central part of the Katanga copper belt, 75 km northwest of Lubumbashi, the capital of Katanga province. Tiger Resources, an Australian company headquartered in West Perth, Western Australia, has a 60% interest in the project. The remaining 40% interest is held by La Générale des Carrière et des Mines (Gécamines), a DRC state-controlled company.
Tiger plans to export up to 60% of the annual concentrate production from Kipoi, with a higher proportion of the export sales to occur during the dry season.
Stage 1 of the Kipoi project is exploiting the high-grade zone of mineralization at the Kipoi Central deposit. During the three-year operation of Stage, 1.9 million mt/y of 7% copper ore is planned to be processed through the heavy media separation plant at a recovery rate of 55%, to produce approximately 35,000 mt/y of copper in concentrate.
The Kipoi project covers an area of 55 km2 on a 12-km sequence of mineralized Roan sediments that host at least five known deposits: Kipoi Central, Kipoi North, Kileba, Judeira, and Kaminafitwe. Tiger has reported JORC-compliant resources at Kipoi Central, Kipoi North, and Kileba. The principal deposit is Kipoi Central, which contains a high-grade zone of copper mineralization within a much larger, lower-grade global resource.
A definitive feasibility study is under way for Kipoi Stage 2 production, which will be based on a solvent extraction/electrowinning plant that is targeted to come on stream by April 2014.
