Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Tailings |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 2027 |
Management is working on several exploration and development initiatives to extend the operating life at Century beyond the current remaining tailings resource. Development activities at the high-grade Silver King and East Fault Block deposits adjacent to the Century open pit mine is expected to commence. Final Investment Decision (FID) to follow internal and senior debt-finance approvals and debt financing completion targeted for H2 CY2022 with first production in H2 CY2023.
With the potential reintroduction of in-situ mining activities at Century, numerous Life of Asset extension opportunities are being investigated. A blend up strategy is being considered when assessing the potential deposits with the aim of bringing forward higher grade ore to process alongside what will be an extended tailings Life of Mine. The identification and development of additional resources to extend the Life of Asset to 2030 and beyond remains a key focus for the New Century. |
Source:
p. 1
Century Mining Limited (CML), which is 100% owned by New Century, holds all the relevant mining and exploration leases.
In October 2021, Sibanye-Stillwater acquired an initial 19.99% shareholding in New Century Resources Limited (New Century). In March 2023, Sibanye-Stillwater launched an off-market takeover offer for all the remaining shares in New Century that it did not already own.
In May 2023, Sibanye-Stillwater secured a 100% shareholding in New Century Resources Limited. New Century is now a subsidiary of the Sibanye-Stillwater Group.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Breccia pipe / Stockwork
- Tailings
- Vein / narrow vein
Summary:
Since acquiring the Century Mine, the Company restarted operations through the reprocessing of the large tailings Ore Reserve on the mine site.
The current tailings Ore Reserve provides base production, with in-situ resources providing additional production. The two in-situ deposits on the mining lease (Silver King and East Fault Block) are located less than 2km from the processing plant and have been used as the feed source for the plant, with two additional deposits on the Company’s leases (South Block and Watson’s Lode) to be assessed for potential mine life extension in due course.
Century Tailings Deposit
A single substantial tailings deposit exists at Century, generated from 16 years of large scale operations from the Century open pit.
Substantial recoverable zinc mineralisation exists in the tailings at Century, due to the historical focus on throughput maximisation as opposed to recovery maximisation. The nature of the original Century ore required extended flotation time and given the scale of the original Century deposit (105Mt at 12% Zn) a high throughput processing plant was constructed, achieving relatively modest recoveries (74% in 2015) over the life of operations.
Three independent metallurgical studies have been completed on the Century Tailings Deposit, demonstrating the tailings may be reprocessed through the existing plant on site with minor modifications to achieve recovery of >60% of remaining zinc minera ........

Summary:
Hydraulic mining of the Century tailings deposit is undertaken via top-down hydraulic mining method. Up to four active water cannons are located on top of the mining bench and use high pressure water to fluidise the tailings. The resultant slurry gravity feeds to a sump, in which multiple submersible pumps transfer the tailing to screen after which it is pumped to the Century concentrator. The mine plan has broken the deposit into 3 horizontal passes, with the hydraulic cannons working in strips and blocks with typical strip widths of 15-20 meters. The floor of the tailings facility will be cleaned up, utilising a combination of hydraulic mining, dozers and excavators. The current mining activities show the appropriateness of the method as the basis of the Ore Reserve.
During the hydraulic mining process, a 300mm material layer will be left on the floor of the deposit, which is accounted as ore loss. Additionally, a dilution of 100mm at the bottom of the deposit for non-tailings material is applied to the resource model. This final layer including the 300mm of ore loss and 100mm of dilution will be removed in the final clean-up pass. A mining recovery of 95.5% has been assumed for all mining blocks removed with the hydraulic cannons which is based on the mine call factor estimated from monthly reconciliation data.
The Optimisation Study referred to in this announcement is an update to the original In-situ Feasibility Study of the potential of combining t ........

Source:

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Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Reserves at June 30, 2022:
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Proven & Probable
|
42.8 Mt
|
Zinc
|
3.1 %
|
1,332 kt
|
Proven & Probable
|
42.8 Mt
|
Lead
|
0.3 %
|
133 kt
|
Proven & Probable
|
42.8 Mt
|
Silver
|
17 g/t
|
24.2 M oz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
51.2 Mt
|
Zinc
|
3.4 %
|
1,811 kt
|
Measured & Indicated
|
51.2 Mt
|
Lead
|
0.4 %
|
265 kt
|
Measured & Indicated
|
51.2 Mt
|
Silver
|
19 g/t
|
34.6 M oz
|
Inferred
|
2.3 Mt
|
Zinc
|
6.5 %
|
150 kt
|
Inferred
|
2.3 Mt
|
Lead
|
3.1 %
|
72 kt
|
Inferred
|
2.3 Mt
|
Silver
|
16 g/t
|
1.2 M oz
|
Total Resource
|
53.5 Mt
|
Zinc
|
3.7 %
|
1,961 kt
|
Total Resource
|
53.5 Mt
|
Lead
|
0.5 %
|
337 kt
|
Total Resource
|
53.5 Mt
|
Silver
|
19 g/t
|
35.8 M oz
|
Source:
HME Type | Model | Size | Quantity | Ref. Date |
Dozer
|
.......................
|
|
.......................
|
Jan 1, 2020
|
Drill
|
.......................
|
|
.......................
|
Jun 30, 2022
|
Excavator
|
.......................
|
180 t
|
.......................
|
Sep 15, 2021
|
Truck (dump)
|
.......................
|
170 t
|
.......................
|
Sep 15, 2021
|
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