AIM and Media Release
26 June 2023
BASE RESOURCES
LIMITED
FY24 Production Guidance – Kwale Operations
African mineral sands producer, Base Resources Limited
(ASX & AIM: BSE) (Base Resources or the Company)
provides production guidance for the 2024 financial year
(FY24) for its Kwale Operations in Kwale County,
Kenya.
The FY24 production guidance is set out in the table below, with
the Company’s 2023 financial year (FY23) production guidance
shown alongside for comparison purposes. The FY23 production
guidance remains unchanged from that last reported.
The FY24 guidance reflects the planned continuation of the
concurrent mining of the South Dune and the P199 and P200 pits on
the North Dune, which began in February
2023, until the South Dune is fully depleted. This is
expected to occur in March 2024, at
which point, the South Dune mining operation will transition to the
Bumamani orebody, with mining at the North Dune continuing
uninterrupted – refer to the map included in the full PDF version
of this release, available from the Company’s website
(https://baseresources.com.au/investors/announcements/), for the
location of mining operations during FY24.
The FY24 production guidance is lower than the FY23 guidance due
to:
- Lower heavy mineral grades – the remaining sections of the
South Dune and the areas of the North Dune and Bumamani ore bodies
proposed to be mined are estimated to have lower heavy mineral
(HM) grades than the grades historically mined at Kwale
Operations.
- Lower tonnes mined – since commencement of mining at the North
Dune in February 2023 and as
disclosed in the March 2023 Quarterly
Activities Report1, mining rates have been lower than
expected in the lower ore zones due to elevated oversize and
slimes. While some improvements in mining rates have been
achieved, mining rates are still anticipated to be lower than
FY23.
- Mining availability – a shutdown of half the mining operation
is anticipated to occur in March 2024
for the relocation of the South Dune hydraulic mining units and
slurry collection hopper to the Bumamani orebody.
- New orebody – the normal uncertainties associated with mining a
new orebody (Bumamani) have been factored into the FY24
guidance.
PRODUCTION GUIDANCE
(tonnes) |
FY23
Guidance Range |
FY24
Guidance Range |
Rutile |
62,000
to 73,000 |
35,000
to 41,000 |
Ilmenite |
260,000
to 310,000 |
130,000
to 160,000 |
Zircon |
22,000
to 27,000 |
13,000
to 16,000 |
The FY24 production guidance is based on the following
assumptions:
- Mining of 14.1Mt at an average HM grade of 2.23%.
- Heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) produced by the wet
concentrator plant of 311kt.
- HMC fed into the mineral separation plant (MSP) of
297kt.
- MSP product recoveries of 101% for rutile, 101.5% for ilmenite
and 84.5% for zircon.
[Note (1): Refer to Base
Resources’ announcement on 26 April 2023, “Quarterly
Activities Report – March 2023”.]
Forward looking statements
Certain statements in or in connection with this release contain
or comprise forward looking statements. Such statements may
include, but are not limited to, statements with regard to future
production and grades, capital cost, capacity, sales projections
and financial performance and may be (but are not necessarily)
identified by the use of phrases such as “will”, “expect”,
“anticipate”, “believe” and “envisage”. By their nature,
forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because
they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur
in the future and may be outside Base Resources’ control.
Accordingly, results could differ materially from those set out in
the forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors,
changes in economic and market conditions, success of business and
operating initiatives, changes in the regulatory environment and
other government actions, fluctuations in product prices and
exchange rates and business and operational risk management.
Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable law or
relevant stock exchange listing rules, Base Resources undertakes no
obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after
today's date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events.
ENDS.
For further information contact:
Australian Media Relations |
UK Media Relations |
Citadel Magnus |
Tavistock Communications |
Cameron Gilenko and Michael
Weir |
Jos Simson and Gareth Tredway |
Tel: +61 8 6160 4900 |
Tel: +44 207 920 3150 |
About Base Resources
Base Resources is an Australian based, African focused, mineral
sands producer and developer with a track record of project
delivery and operational performance. The Company operates
the established Kwale Operations in Kenya, is developing the Toliara Project in
Madagascar and is conducting
exploration in Tanzania. Base Resources is an ASX and AIM
listed company. Further details about Base Resources are
available at www.baseresources.com.au.
PRINCIPAL & REGISTERED
OFFICE
Level 3, 46 Colin Street
West Perth, Western Australia, 6005
Email: info@baseresources.com.au
Phone: +61 8 9413 7400
Fax: +61 8 9322 8912
NOMINATED ADVISER & JOINT
BROKER
Canaccord Genuity Limited
James Asensio / Raj Khatri /
Patrick Dolaghan
Phone: +44 20 7523 8000
JOINT BROKER
Berenberg
Matthew Armitt / Detlir Elezi
Phone: +44 20 3207 7800