Officials at Tiger Resources have announced construction of its Stage 2 solvent extraction electro-winning (SX-EW) plant at the Kipoi copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is under way with production slated for mid-2014. Construction, which began in January, is on schedule, allowing the site to produce copper cathode by mid-2014.
To date, more than 60% of the bulk earthworks are complete, according to company representatives. A 70-man construction camp has been erected, meanwhile, and permanent site accommodation units are nearing completion. Civil works for the laydown area are also finished and awaiting fencing, said officials; the pad area for a 5 MVA substation is now also complete.
Lump sum turnkey contracts have been executed with principal contractor Senet Pty Ltd. for the supply of the SX-EW plant, agglomerator and stacking conveyor system. Additional fixed-price contracts have been executed for accommodation facilities, power supply, reticulation and earthworks, and for the supply and installation of the heap leach pads.
The Stage 1 heavy media separation (HMS) plant at Kipoi continues to generate the cash flow to meet the capital expenditures, with March 2013 delivering a new monthly production record of 4,000 metric tons (mt) of copper, 37% above capacity. Production for the first quarter was 9,488 mt of copper in concentrate, exceeding guidance by 3%.
