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Rhoden Tonderai Munyoro
The first step in developing a new mine is to locate a suitable deposit. Exploration for new deposits may be in either of these two contexts — greenfield exploration to find new deposits in areas not previously mined and brownfield exploration in and adjacent to current and past mining activity.
Greenfield exploration may target frontier areas with no previous exploration or may follow up on past exploration results.
Brownfield exploration includes searching for extensions to known reserves and resources within or near a mine as well as new deposits in the vicinity of existing operations. The latter may extend the life of an existing mine or result in the complete redevelopment of a former mine.
Exploration is an uncertain process conducted with limited capital. An explorer’s objective is to find a deposit of the targeted type, size, and quality with the least amount of expense. Thus, any particular location of merit is rarely exhaustively explored.
Exploration will proceed on the basis of favourable indicators so long as objectives are met within budget. An exploration project will be curtailed if evidence is found that contra-indicates the prospectivity of the target or if results are insufficient to justify further work. We have many greenfields in Zimbabwe.
Market price influence on exploration budgets
Exploration commonly runs in cycles, prompted by short to medium-term increases in mineral prices. The low side of a price cycle may prompt little or no exploration activity. Any particular prospect may undergo many episodes of exploration by different parties during many decades. The exploration episodes are motivated by price cycles, new cost-saving technology, improved exploration concepts and methods. Over the years, we have gone through these cycles without taking advantage of them. These windows of opportunity come and go depending on the world economy.
Proving the deposit
The discovery of a deposit must be proved by extensive trenching, drilling, and sampling. Drilling will initially be on a widely spaced grid to evaluate the extent and richness of mineralisation. If results are favourable, the deposit will be drilled on progressively narrower spacing until a measured resource of adequate size is established. Concurrently, baseline environmental studies will be completed and bulk samples obtained for metallurgical testing.
Mining and metallurgical planning
A conceptual mine plan and metallurgical plan will be engineered and a preliminary economic feasibility study undertaken. If the results of these studies are favourable, further work will develop an optimised mine plan, validate metallurgical processing on a pilot plant scale, begin application for permits and conduct a definitive economic feasibility study.
Permitting the mine
If the results of the feasibility study are positive, financing will be sought and permitting further advanced along with detailed plant engineering. Permitting will typically require an approved plan of operations, a positive environmental impact study, and some kind of final permission by the Ministry of Mines (and Mining Development). If external financing is required, an independent due diligence study will verify the results of the feasibility study.
Construction of Mine and Plan
Once financing and regulatory approval are in place, a construction decision will be announced. Ongoing detailed engineering design will be completed, long lead-time items will be ordered, construction work will be bid on and contracts will be awarded. Construction begins as soon as possible and is executed quickly to minimise interest and opportunity costs.
Initial operation
As mine components are completed, they will be tested and placed in operation with a ramp-up period until full commercial production at the planned output rate is achieved. The ramp-up process may be completed smoothly in a matter of months or may encounter unanticipated difficulties that require an extended period of time to solve. Some mines have failed at this stage because of ore grades that are lower than expected or metallurgical processes that do not work as planned.
Enormous expenses and sources of capital
Up to this point, a mining company has been spending large amounts of money without any revenue from mineral sales. Capital must be supplied internally from net revenues of a mining company’s other operations, or externally from banks or investors. The cost of borrowing these funds is considerable and repayment cannot even start until a mine goes into production.
Operation, reclamation and closure
A mine will operate until reserves are exhausted. Today, mine closure and reclamation are planned before a mine is built; reclamation is undertaken concurrent with operations wherever possible.
Mobile equipment and structures are removed. Waste stockpiles, tailings, and surface facilities are also reclaimed in an attempt to restore the land to its previous use and appearance.
Lead time to production
The time from discovery to initial production for some mines range from two to 10 years.
The role of the private sector
Having looked at all these expenses and other problems, the private sector has the capacity to mobilise cheap off-shore funding (in most cases from Stock Exchanges) and can put up money for exploration.
Junior companies are usually eager to go into exploration hoping to reap high rewards if they discover a rich resource which can bring the company shares soaring over night.
While the five million dollars that was allocated to exploration by the Government might be a good starting point, this amount should be at least $500 million to do the kind of exploration that is needed to quantify resources.
This is the true reality in mining. Here we are talking about world-class mines with investments of $20 million to $500 million. These are the mines that can lift Zimbabwe to new heights and make Zim-Asset a reality.
Our deposits in Zimbabwe fall in these world-class ranges. We should also realise that in this type of mining, a certain size of ground is required for future exploration and expansion and also to get the right type of investment.
We should remember that mines such as Zimplats, River Ranch, Hwange Colliery and Mhangura Copper Mines were a result of EPO exploration.
The private sector can bring the latest exploration techniques and experience to help unlock resources that might never be found using today’s conventional methods. Satellite exploration is the new technology that is available to locate resources quickly at a lesser cost.
…As energy generation becomes cheaper, cleaner
As we move towards new technology in power generation, it should be noted that we have all the natural resources used in production or research of new energy technology.
We welcome solar projects, these should be on the forefront of our new power generation projects. Lithium is being used to manufacture electric batteries for a new generation of vehicles. We have rare earth-like neodymium which is used to manufacture extremely powerful magnets that will be used in future electricity generation equipment.
The future of clean, unlimited alternative new energy is approaching. In the near-future, one will be able to buy a portable unit as big as a desk top computer unit and be able to generate 15Kw of energy for domestic use at a very low cost.
The technology has been there for the past 60 years. The Magnetic Levitation Electricity Generator by Prof John Searl is one example. It is a unique and amazing device designed to generate clean, never-ending and highly affordable electric power for homes and vehicles. However, due to the political power of the energy conglomerates pushing fossil fuels, coal and nuclear energy, these inventions have remained undeveloped.
Rhoden Tonderai Munyoro is the secretary of the National Miners Association of Zimbabwe and a mining consultant. He can be reached on [email protected] or [email protected]
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