Katanga Mining Ltd Ord KATFF

KATANGA MINING ANNOUNCES FILING OF AIF AND INDEPEN

[Redpill]

The docs are not available at SEDAR yet.... I am curious to read about " substantial increase in the net present value of the project"

accelerating expansion is not bad news....

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Press ReleaseSource: Katanga Mining LimitedOn Thursday March 31, 2011, 6:07 pm EDT

BAAR, SWITZERLAND, March 31 /CNW/ - Katanga Mining Limited (TSX: KAT) ("Katanga" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the filing today of its Annual InformationForm and updated Independent 43-101 Compliant Technical Report ("ITR") on SEDAR.

The ITR provides detail on the following important updates from theMarch 2010 Technical Report:

• Phases 4 and 5 of the Whole Ore Leach/Solvent Extraction/Electro-Winning refinery modular project are to be replaced by a New Phase 4. When completed, this new Phase 4 will result in total plant capacity of 310ktpa refined copper and will consist of:
  • an increase in the milling capacity at the refurbished Kamoto Concentrator ("KTC") of approximately 20% through the conversion of two of the existing autogenous mills into semi-autogenous mills;
  • the construction of a new roaster at the Luilu refinery;
  • the construction of two new solvent extraction ("SX") plants at the Luilu refinery, each with 100ktpa capacity; and
  • the conversion of the existing copper electro refinery at the Luilu refinery to a 200ktpa capacity copper electro-winning facility fed by the SX plants referred to above. This has resulted in capital expenditure savings of $230 million from $767 million to $537 million relative to previous estimates for expansionary capital expenditure for process plants (which included the construction of a new electro-winning plant);
• an increase in the milling capacity at the refurbished Kamoto Concentrator ("KTC") of approximately 20% through the conversion of two of the existing autogenous mills into semi-autogenous mills;
• the construction of a new roaster at the Luilu refinery;
• the construction of two new solvent extraction ("SX") plants at the Luilu refinery, each with 100ktpa capacity; and
• the conversion of the existing copper electro refinery at the Luilu refinery to a 200ktpa capacity copper electro-winning facility fed by the SX plants referred to above. This has resulted in capital expenditure savings of $230 million from $767 million to $537 million relative to previous estimates for expansionary capital expenditure for process plants (which included the construction of a new electro-winning plant);
• update of the project life of mine plan which includes confirmation of the intention to mine a component of the KOV resources (the Kamoto East resource) through an underground extension from the existing Kamoto Underground mine (thereby significantly reducing the capital expenditure associated with explotation of this resource by open pit mining methods) and the exploitation of additional T-17 resources below the bottom of the current open pit through underground mining techniques; and
  
• a restatement of Mineral Reserves to reflect the change in mining strategy with the exclusion of the Kamoto East resources from reserves pending finalization of the underground mine plan.

The updated ITR also reflects a substantial increase in the net present value of the project in comparison to the March 2010 Technical reportpredominantly as a consequence of the positive impact of the continuedrecovery in copper and cobalt prices on the Company's forward priceassumptions and the reduction in capital expenditure and operatingcosts from the updated mine plan and process plant developmentinitiatives summarised above.