Kenyan mineral sands producer Base Resources is looking at a further life extension at its Kwale project after gaining government approval of a boundary extension of its special mining lease that will enable it to continue production to Dec 2023.
A DFS assessing the potential for further mine life extensions to July 2024 is due for completion in the first half of 2022.
Kwale’s Sept qtr (Q1FY22) production was impacted by two mining block moves and lower heavy mineral grades during the start of mining on fringe areas, delivering 72,866t ilmenite (Q4: 88,735t), 17,762t rutile (20,116t), 6,069t zircon (7,057t) and 506t low-grade zircon (454t).
Q1 sales totalled 34,107t ilmenite (93,959t), 13,791t rutile (24,597t), 5,622t zircon (7,690t) and 617t low-grade zircon (698t).