Mozambique Mining: Mutamba Consortium commissions pilot plant

Savannah Resources states the Mutamba Consortium has completed commissioning of a pilot processing plant at the Mutamba Mineral Sands Project in Mozambique.

In celebration of this, the plant was officially opened by His Excellency, the Governor of Inhambane, Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, in the presence of national, provincial and district officials and members of the local community.

The 20 tph plant will be used to produce concentrates as part of the Pre-Feasibility study for Mutamba, which began earlier this year.

“We have been delighted to see the continuing strong support for the project both from the Governor and all levels of government and local communities,” says Savannah Resources CEO, David Archer.

“The commissioning of the pilot plant is an important step forward for our studies on Mutamba, which our fully owned subsidiary AME is conducting on behalf of the Mutamba Consortium.

“The pilot plant will allow us to process samples and conduct tests on the extraction of minerals from the deposits.

“While things are still at a very early stage, a pilot plant is an important part of any project study and we look forward to the work ahead.”

The pilot plant was constructed and tested under the direction of Rio Tinto in 2012 in South Africa before being disassembled and packed into containers and shipped to the Mutamba site.

Savannah Resources appointed Mozambique based Anubis Moçambique Limitada (AML), an experienced mineral sands engineering company that has provided multi-disciplinary engineering and process services to the mining industry in Mozambique since 2011, to undertake the work.

AML’s previous clients have included, Kenmare Resources (Moma mineral sands project), Maputo Port Development Company and MOZAL.

The Mutamba project is located in the Gaza and Inhambane provinces of Mozambique in a world-class heavy minerals sands region close to established infrastructure, approximately 450 km northeast of the capital city of Maputo.

The project combines Savannah Resources’ Jangamo project with Rio Tinto’s adjacent Mutamba project, which includes three deposit areas – Jangamo, Dongane and Ravene  – as well as the Chilubane deposit, which is located 180 km to the south west of the Mutamba project.

The enlarged collective Mutamba project has excellent infrastructure, including road, power and access to the nearby ports of Inhambane and Maxixie approximately 40 km away. The project also benefits from Rio Tinto’s existing camp and equipment to help fast track development.