The Ruashi ore body is a stratiform, sediment-hosted copper deposit (“SSC”) located in the Central African Copper belt. The Copper belt forms one of the world’s greatest metallogenic provinces containing over a third of the world’s cobalt reserves and a tenth of the world’s copper reserves. The Central African Copper belt is second only to the Chilean Porphyry belt in terms of copper endowment but lags significantly in terms of production.

The Ruashi copper-cobalt ore bodies are situated within a 24 km long by 2 km wide, northwest to southeast trending fold structure. The Lukuni-Ruashi Etoile trend consists of a recumbent, synclinal fold, Ruashi on the southern limb and Etoille on the northern limb. The flanks are made up of Roan rocks and the core by the Mines Group, all occurring to the southwest of a prominent regional northwest to southeast trending thrust fault. A local thrust fault dipping to the south, locates within the RAT formation immediately south of the Ruashi ore bodies. A listric fault-breccia pattern separates the ore bodies from one another.

Three ore bodies have been identified at the Ruashi Mine, namely Ruashi I, Ruashi II and Ruashi III.

Ruashi I, the largest of the three, is located in the northwest of the mining area. The lateral extent of Ruashi I measures approximately 900 m in a northwest to southeast direction and 350 m across strike. In cross-section, the oxide zone extends to approximately 130 m below surface, wh ........

Ruashi Mine is an open cast mining operation and the deposit is mined by conventional open-pit mining methods using truck and excavator combinations.

Ruashi I is largely mined out up to a depth of approximately 52 m below surface (1 240 amsl). The design extends another 28 m down to the 1 205 level. However, a southern pushback is planned to access additional ore at depth. The pit is accessed by a ramp from the north, with the north-western and south-eastern parts being serviced by ramps branching off from the existing northern ramp.

Ruashi II is the smallest of the three ore bodies. The design extends up a depth of 90 m below surface (1 195 amsl). The pit has a diameter of roughly 400 m on surface. A single ramp provides access to all the levels in both Pit II and Pit III. The current pit floor is 41 m below surface.

Ruashi II is the smallest of the three ore bodies. The design extends up a depth of 90 m below surface (1 195 amsl). The pit has a diameter of roughly 400 m on surface. A single ramp provides access to all the levels in both Pit II and Pit III. The current pit floor is 41 m below surface.

Ruashi III is the largest ore body with the highest overburden stripping requirement. The pit floor of phase I stripping is now at 25 m below surface and the BOMZ horizon containing HG cobalt ore is exposed in the northern portion of the pit. The pit has a designed depth of 190 m with the lowest bench on the 1 095 m elevation and ........

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Ruashi Mining commenced stockpile mining operations in June 2005 for processing through the Ruashi Phase I oxide flotation concentrator plant. Phase I involved the construction of a concentrator plant to treat the oxide stockpiles that were left untreated by Union Minière and Gécamines with the concentrate being transported to the SX-EW facility owned by Sable Zinc in Zambia where copper cathode and cobalt carbonate were produced. Phase II of the project commenced in March 2007 and involved the development of the Ruashi Mine opencast orebody and the construction of an expanded crushing and milling section, the new acid leaching section and SX-EW plant for the production of copper cathode and cobalt hydroxide on site from ore mined from the Ruashi Mine orebody. Open-pit mining operations at the Ruashi Mine commenced in October 2007. Stockpile reserves were depleted and the Phase I concentrator plant was placed on care and maintenance in March 2009. All copper and cobalt have been produc ........