Re: Placer in Tanzania
in response to
by
posted on
Jan 15, 2009 03:05PM
Tanzanian Mineral Properties- The Mkuvia Project - Paleo-placer Developing
I agree that DLKM is not in the best financial shape. Harp has talked about spending 2 million to set up the first processing facility and they don't have the money. He has also commented that the financing environment for juniors is awful. Sounds like a spot between a rock and a hard place.
Processing placer sand and gravel is cheap, but being far removed from good roads and infra-structure certainly adds to the cost. A positive factor is that the deposit has values in the massive sand horizon that is close to the surface, gold will be in hand soon after they begin moving material.
Harp has indicated that he would like to ramp up to a 100,000 oz/year production level... I doubt that will be the target for the first year. So much depends on the engineering characteristics of the deposit as well... is the ground cemented, what is the distribution of the gold particle size, what is the water availability like, what environmental standards will the project have to conform with, how much reclamation will be required, how will the artisanal miners be compensated? So many questions yet to be addressed, I wonder if it is possible to get an operation mobilized and running by summer as Harp has said is the plan.
The best we can expect is a well conceived plan to do the preliminary work in a timely fashion. I hope that the Chinese will insist that this happens. Their participation in this project is re-assuring to me.
We all want to see the gold but reality says this all takes time and money. I would be distressed if they moved into production without doing the prerequisite work. I have seen placer operations fold because the operator did not do their homework.