Terramin Australia (TZN)

Shares / Stock Code

TZN

Stock Exchange / Sharemarket

ax

Terramin Australia (TZN) is an Australia-based exploration company searching for base metals in South Australia. The company's two main projects are the Angas Zinc project (100%) and the Menninnie zinc-lead-copper project (25%). TZN’s other project, the Oued Amizour project (65%), located in Algeria, contains several lead and zinc deposits, and is currently in the feasibility stage.

Terramin was incorporated in December 1993 under the name of the Playford Resources NL with the objective of exploring and developing Australian Mineral resources opportunities. Terramin became officially listed on the Australian stock market (ASX), that is, 23 December 2003. Terramin has formed a joint venture with Zinifex Australia Limited, a subsidiary of one of the world's largest integrated lead and zinc companies, in relation to the resource definition of the Menninnie lead-zinc deposits.

Terramin Australia competes with other mining exploration companies based in Australia and overseas such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. TZN's customers include mainly the industrial sector both locally and internationally, especially China. The Company’s subsidiaries include Menninnie Metals Pty Ltd, Western Mediterranean Zinc Spa, Terramin Spain S.L., Terramin Exploration Pty Ltd and Terramin Investments S.L.

Angas Zinc Mine Project

The Angas Zinc Mine is 100% owned and operated by Terramin. Production at Angas commenced in July 2008. Probable Reserves of 2.15 million tonnes at 10.5% Pb+Zn are sufficient for a five year operation. Situated in prospective ground in an historical mining belt, strong exploration prospects on the Company's tenements could potentially lead to an increase in production and an extension of mine life.

There are numerous small lead-zinc mines in the southern Fleurieu Peninsula where mining began in the 1840s, creating Australia's first base metals mining belt. The nearest historic mining to Angas was at the Strathalbyn Mine discovered in 1848, one kilometre to the north of current operations. The largest historical mine is the Wheal Ellen silver-lead-zinc mine, 7km north east of Strathalbyn which was worked during the 1850s.

Mineralisation at Angas was not discovered until 1991 when Aberfoyle Resources Limited intersected shallow mineralisation and by 1993 estimated a "pre-resource" of 2 million tonnes at 15% Pb+Zn. Terramin became involved in 1997 in a joint venture with Aberfoyle, eventually acquiring 100% and including the property in the Company's 2003 float on the Australian Securities Exchange.

The Angas prefeasibility study was completed in 2005 with the feasibility study finalised in April 2006. The mining lease was granted to Terramin in August, 2006 and the Mining And Rehabilitation Plan (MARP) was approved by the South Australian Government in March 2007. Construction commenced in June 2007 with the first concentrate shipment on 28 July 2008.

The ore body is accessed through a portal at the bottom of a box-cut. A decline (5m x 5m) provides access to the ore body, ramping down at 1:7m which will reach 2.8 km from the portal. The Angas orebody is mined using bench stoping with progressive fill. The rock is drilled and blasted from vertical stopes which are later backfilled for stability. The mine Levels are 20 vertical metres apart and the current design depth is approximately 400m below surface.

The majority of stope production is carried out using teleremote loading. Forty-tonne articulated dump trucks haul the ore to a surface stockpile ready for processing. The ore is initially crushed to 100 millimetres in diameter and then transferred to a grinding mill where it is ground to 80% passing 103 microns. Treatment is by conventional flotation with the production of two commodities: a zinc-rich concentrate; and a lead-copper-gold-silver concentrate.

During flotation, the crushed and ground ore particles are combined with water to produce a slurry. Next, chemicals are added to make the valuable minerals hydrophobic. Air is pumped into the slurry and the zinc and lead-precious metals particles attach to the rising air bubbles. Adding different chemicals at specific rates separates the minerals into two different concentrates. The zinc and lead bearing material floats to the surface and is recovered using reagents which allows the valuable materials to be separated into two concentrates.

The concentrates are filtered and dried and temporarily stored on site in closed sheds awaiting road transport in covered B-double trucks. The concentrates are transported from site on weekdays only. The zinc is trucked to the Port of Adelaide for export to Asian markets. The lead-copper-silver-gold concentrate is transported to the Port Pirie smelter for further refining. Residue from the flotation phase is thickened to 70% solids and pumped to a tailings storage facility double lined with 1.5 mm high density plastic (HDPE) from which water is recovered and recycled back into the operation.