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Plains Creek (PCP.V) receives Preliminary Economic Assessment for Direct Shipping Option Project for Farim Phosphate Project, Guinea Bissau, West Africa
VANCOUVER, July 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Plains Creek Phosphate Corporation ("Plains Creek", the "Company") (TSX‐V: PCP) is pleased to announce the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for the Direct Shipping Option ("DSO") Project, the first step in the development of the GB Minerals AG Farim Phosphate Project located in Guinea Bissau, West Africa. The PEA was prepared by GBM Minerals Engineering Consultants Limited ("GBMMEC") in conjunction with Golder Associates Limited ("Golder"), GEEEM Consultants and Tropica Environmental, all of whom are independent of the Company.
Summary of the DSO Project PEA
The Farim Phosphate Project consists of a high grade sedimentary phosphate deposit of one continuous phosphate bed, known as the FPA layer, which extends over a known surface area of approximately 40 km². A Measured and Indicated Resource of 32.60 million tonnes ("Mt") of DSO phosphate has been identified within the Farim Phosphate Project for the DSO Project with a P2O5 grade in excess of 30.7 % and an average R2O3 content of 6.01%.
A 25 year mine life is planned for a total of 12.5 Mt of DSO phosphate (500,000 tonnes per annum), at an average grade of 30.7% P2O5 and less than 6% R2O3. Based on the current Measured and Indicated Resources the potential mine life for the DSO Project can be extended to in excess of 50 years at this production rate, based on the model and assumptions contained in the PEA.
The average strip ratio over the 25 year mine plan is 7.4:1 (bank cubic meters waste: tonne phosphate). The average thickness of phosphate deposit is approximately 4 meters over the life of the DSO Project. Average annual waste production is 3.6 Mm3. The mine plan grade has been optimized to remain above 30% P2O5 for each of the 25 years of mine life.
The current financial model assumes the mining of 12.5 million tonnes which is less than 38% of the recently announced Indicated and Measured DSO Resources. There is also potential to improve the Project economics by increasing the production rate and the life of mine, capital and working costs.
The Farim Phosphate Project has been granted a Mining Lease and a Production License by the Guinea-Bissau Government. This is valuable to optimizing the timetable for development and production.
The DSO Project encompasses the following general process flow: Contractor mining; Removal of overburden by a combination of excavators and trucks; Run of Mine("ROM") phosphate removed by excavators and trucks and stockpiled for loading and blending close to a barge loading system located some 1.5 km from the open pit mine; A number of barges moored to a floating pontoon will be loaded and taken to a bulk carrier vessel (of 25,000 tonnes capacity) moored to a floating ship loading facility off the Rio Casheu estuary for dispatch to customers and off takers; The river transport distance from the planned barge loading site at the mine site to the Rio Cacheu estuary ship loading facility on the Atlantic Ocean is approximately 150 kilometres; and ROM phosphate will also be available for supply to the in-country market as a direct application fertilizer.
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