Name and Location
Kwale mineral sands project, Kenya.

Client
Base Resources.

Project Description
The project is located about 50 km south of Mombasa and 10 km inland from the Indian Ocean. The Kwale processing plant is designed to process ore, recover ilmenite, rutile and zircon products and generate several reject streams.

A dozer-trap mining unit has been selected as the optimum mining method, instead of a large bucket wheel excavator.

A port facility will also be built at Likoni, 50 km north of the project site, on the southern side of the existing shipping channel that services the Port of Mombasa.

The project has a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant reserve of 140.6-million tons, grading at 4.9% total heavy minerals, of which 61% is in the proven category. Over the 13-year life-of-mine, the project is expected to produce about 4.7-million tons of product.

Value
The project is estimated to cost about $310-million.

Duration
Ore mining and production start-up is expected in July 2013, with production volumes averaging about 330 000 t/y of ilmenite, 79 000 t/y of rutile and 30 000 t/y of zircon over the first seven years of operations.

Latest Developments
Base Resources reported in October this year that the mining unit and wet concentrator were now operational and that the ramp-up process and the building of a stockpile of heavy mineral concentrate (HMC), ahead of the commissioning of the mineral separation plant (MSP), had started.

Construction work on the MSP is in its final stages, with commissioning of the ilmenite and rutile circuits. The start of concentrate processing is expected towards the end of November, which will be followed by the zircon circuit.

Onshore construction works at the Likoni port facility are in the final stages, with the 60 000-t-capacity storage shed complete and administration buildings are progressing on track.

Following construction and trial assembly in South Africa, the shiploader was successfully erected on the wharf platform in August and its installation is on target for completion before the first planned bulk shipment in January 2014.

The 16 km 132 kVA power line was commissioned in June and subsequently provided power for the latter stages of construction and continues to be the source for ongoing operations.

The final elevation of the Mukurumudzi dam main embankment has been completed, providing a storage capacity of eight gigalitres, and the spillway is functionally complete. The dam currently holds an estimated six gigalitres of water, which is more than sufficient for the first year’s production requirements.

The tailings storage facility was completed in August and is accepting tails from HMC production through the wet concentrator.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
SRK Consulting and Barclays Capital, Standard Chartered Bank, West LB and Caterpillar Finance (underwriters); Ausenco (main contractor – detailed design and engineering and engineering, procurement and construction management contract); Actom (power station); and Lamco (port facility).

On Budget and on Time?
The project remains on schedule to make the first bulk product shipments in January 2014.

Contact Details for Project Information
Base Resources MD Tim Carstens, tel +61 8 9322 8910 or email tcarstens@baseresources.com.au.
SRK Consulting, tel +27 11 441 1111, fax +27 11 880 8086 or email johannesburg@srk.co.za.
Barclays Capital press office, tel +44 20 313 418 886 or email Corporate.Communications@barclayscapital.com.
Ausenco, tel +61 7 3169 7000, fax +61 7 3169 7001 or email investor.relations@ausenco.com.
Actom, tel +27 11 820 5111 or fax +27 11 820 5100.