Overview
Status | Care and Maintenance |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
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Mining Method |
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Mine Life | 15 years (as of Jan 1, 2015) |
The Norasa Uranium Project is one of the only construction ready uranium projects in the world with a mining license.
Norasa consists of the Valencia and Namibplaas Uranium Projects.
Forsys Metals having placed the Norasa Uranium project on care and maintenance in 2017, maintained the license in Namibia in good standing but carried out no material works.
The Company commenced processes to update the 2015 DFS. The Company sees potential to improve project economics by optimizing pit parameters and examining the potential of using heap leaching in mineral processing. The work program that began in mid 2023 and is anticipated to finish in mid 2024. |
Latest News | Forsys Commences 2024 Program at Valencia and Reports Results from the 2023 Drilling Program March 26, 2024 |
Source:
Forsys Metals Corp. holds the Norasa Uranium Project through its wholly owned subsidiaries Valencia Uranium (Pty) Ltd and Dunefield Mining Company (Pty) Ltd.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Vein / narrow vein
- Pegmatite
Summary:
The Norasa deposits of Valencia and Namibplaas all fall into category 2 of high-temperature, late magmatic or “intrusive type” deposits. Latest work by NEX (verbal comms Feb 2015) highlights the pegmatitic tenor and consider moving this type from of pegmatitic/granite to more pegmatitic (category 4). Sub-types at Valencia and Namibplaas resemble a pegmatitic origin, such as the alkaline pegmatites at nearby Rössing and Husab Mine. The sub-types at Valencia and Namibplaas resemble pegmatite stage deposits, such as the pegmatitealaskite deposits of nearby Rössing and Husab or similar to the Crocker Well Uranium Project in South Australia.
Uranium deposits world-wide have been grouped into 14 major categories of deposit types based on the geological setting of the deposits. The Valencia deposit is an “intrusive type” of uranium deposit that is associated with alaskite intrusives that comprise massive stock-like bodies, dykes of varying thickness, sill like bodies and veins and veinlets, which can be either conformable with or transgressive to the Damara Sequence metasedimentary host rocks. Included in this type are those deposits associated with intrusive rocks including alaskite, granite, pegmatite and monzonites. Major world deposits include Rössing (Namibia), Ilimaussaq (Greenland) and Palabora (South Africa).
The uranium mineralization at Valencia is hosted only by alaskites that comprise massive stock-like bodies, dykes and sills of varying thickness a ........
Summary:
Mining will take place by conventional drill, blast, load and haul methods. All hydraulic excavators will be configured as backhoe for loading from the top of benches. Due to the nature of the orebodies and mineralisation, selective mining practices will be implemented in specified areas where ore and waste loading needs to be more closely managed with suitable in-pit supervision and management systems. It is estimated that the 10m in situ benches will expand and bulk to about 12m after blasting and levelling.
These benches will then be loaded in two flitches to maintain suitable levels of ore / waste separation as will be defined by the bench mining models. Areas of bulk mining (being ore or waste) will be mined with the same type of equipment to maintain flexibility of the fleet allocation. The option of configuring one of the excavators as a face shovel will be investigated at a later stage.
The bench heights will essentially dictate the blasthole pattern. The 10m benches will be drilled with 171mm diameter holes on a 4.7m x 5.3m burden and spacing, which will both manage the fragmentation and provide suitable bench model resolution to ensure that selective mining can be implemented.
Source:
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Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Projected Production:
Commodity | Units | Avg. Annual | LOM |
Uranium
|
M lbs
| 5.2 | 78 |
All production numbers are expressed as oxide.
Operational Metrics:
Metrics | |
Annual mining capacity
| 74 Mt * |
Annual processing capacity
| 11.2 Mt * |
Stripping / waste ratio
| 3.2 * |
Waste tonnes, LOM
| 660.5 Mt * |
Ore tonnes mined, LOM
| 206.1 Mt * |
Total tonnes mined, LOM
| 866.7 Mt * |
Tonnes processed, LOM
| 206.1 Mt * |
* According to 2015 study.
Reserves at December 31, 2015:
The Mineral Resources are reported above cut-off grades of 100 ppm and 140 ppm U3O8 for Valencia and Namibplaas respectively.
Mineral Resources are reported inclusive of Mineral Reserves.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Commodity |
Proven
|
16 Mt
|
Uranium (U3O8)
|
200 ppm
|
7.1 M lbs
|
Probable
|
190 Mt
|
Uranium (U3O8)
|
200 ppm
|
83.6 M lbs
|
Proven & Probable
|
206 Mt
|
Uranium (U3O8)
|
200 ppm
|
90.7 M lbs
|
Measured
|
16 Mt
|
Uranium (U3O8)
|
200 ppm
|
7 M lbs
|
Indicated
|
249 Mt
|
Uranium (U3O8)
|
196 ppm
|
108 M lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
265 Mt
|
Uranium (U3O8)
|
197 ppm
|
115 M lbs
|
Inferred
|
26 Mt
|
Uranium (U3O8)
|
200 ppm
|
11 M lbs
|
Mine Management:
Job Title | Name | Profile | Ref. Date |
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Jan 10, 2024
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