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Simba Conducts Pre-Feasibility Study Monday December 5, 8:00 am ET
BAY CITY, MI--(MARKET WIRE)--Dec 5, 2005 -- Simba Mines Inc. (Other OTC:SBAM.PK - News), advises that good progress is being made on the pre-feasibility study testwork program being conducted in Perth, Western Australia by specialized resource testing laboratory IML Pty Ltd. ADVERTISEMENT
To date leach bottle roll testing on ground surface oxide material has been completed with high extraction of copper (greater than 80%) into solution being exhibited. The next phase of the testwork program involves identifying the optimum Heap Leach ore crush size.
Although the testwork program had earlier planned to conduct leaching on three size fractions, namely 25mm (1in.), 12mm (1/2in.) and 6mm (1/4in) early results from the optimization program indicate that due to sufficient leaching being exhibited by the two upper coarse fractions, Bateman in conjunction with Simba technical personnel have decided to not proceed with the 6mm (1in.) testwork. From this testwork it has been concluded that 12mm(1/2in) material will be used in the pre-feasibility study as the chosen crush size. All sizing of equipment will therefore be based on this design parameter.
Leach column testwork is now in the process of being conducted to further confirm vital financial parameters such as overall copper recovery.
About Simba
Simba holds through its subsidiaries, an 80% interest in the Cachoeiras de Binga licence in Angola, covering 3615 sq. km in Angola, through its wholly owned subsidiary Sociedade Mineira Simba Jamba LDA. Work to date has established a measured and inferred resource of 58.1 million tonnes at 2.14% copper, which is a contained copper resource of 1.3+ million tonnes. The sharing split is Simba 80% and Angolan nationals 20%.
Mining of the resources will be undertaken through conventional heap leaching plus solvent extraction electro mining SXEW to produce LME grade copper cathode.
Initial plant production capacity is planned to be 20,000 tonnes per annum (approximately 44 million lbs) with capital costs estimated at US $35 million. Following upgrading confirmation of the geological resource, it is anticipated that the plant capacity will be increased in Year 3 to 40,000 - 50,000 tonnes per annum (approximately 88 - 110 million lbs of copper). The mine is located near the coast with much infrastructure already in place.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause Simba Mines Inc.'s. actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, volatility of commodity prices, product demand, market competition, and risks inherent in Simba Mines Inc.'s operations.
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