Gravelotte Emerald Mine Update
28/06/2023 07:00
For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230628:nRSb0883Ea&default-theme=true
RNS Number : 0883E URA Holdings PLC 28 June 2023
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR
INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN,
THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO
DISTRIBUTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
2014/596/EU (WHICH FORMS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN
UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018) ("UK MAR"). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION (AS DEFINED IN UK MAR) IS NOW CONSIDERED
TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
URA Holdings plc
("URA" or the "Company")
Gravelotte Emerald Mine Update
URA Holdings plc, the Main Market listed exploration company with assets in
both the Republic of South Africa and Zambia, is pleased to announce an
operational update for its 74% owned Gravelotte Emerald Mine ("GEM" or
Gravelotte").
Highlights
· Significant on site work completed as part of preparing for the
restart of mining operations at the Gravelotte Emerald Mine.
· The following items have now been completed:
o Upgrade of water supply and water storage capacity available for
processing operations
o Completion of site security upgrades and electrical fencing
o Establishing, rehabilitating and upgrading of the main haulage roads
between the open pits and processing plant
o Rehabilitating and upgrading of the main electrical infrastructure
o Approximately 1.5ha of historic gold slimes and tailings have been
rehabilitated
o Management accommodation has been refurbished
o Upgrading of the dewatering and screening circuit#
o Engineering drawings completed to upgrade the existing processing plant
and include an additional crushing and milling circuit as well as a vibrator
to increase throughput.
Edward Nealon, Chairman of URA commented:
"Following the establishment of the first ever JORC resource for the historic
Gravelotte Emerald mine we are now focussing our activities on preparing for
the recommencement of mining and processing operations. Although we are
fortunate to already have significant historic mine infrastructure in place
the infrastructure still needs to be repaired and upgraded as part of the
restarting of mining and processing operations. I would like to thank our team
on the ground in South Africa for all their hard work and dedication to get us
ever closer to restarting mining operations on a very tight budget."
Enquiries:
URA Holdings plc +44 (0)746 368 6497
Chief Executive Officer
Bernard Olivier
Chief Operating Officer
Jeremy Sturgess-Smith
info@uraholdingsplc.co.uk (about:blank)
Peterhouse Capital Limited +44 (0)20 7469 0930
Corporate Broker
Lucy Williams
Duncan Vasey
Site Improvements
During the year to date the Company has made significant progress with
upgrading the critical infrastructure at the Gravelotte Emerald mine in
preparation for the restart of mining and processing activities.
Water storage and availability
The current levels of available water for processing activities have increased
to approximately 14million litres. The total water storage capacity on site
has been upgraded to approximately 20 million litres. Water reclamation
infrastructure continues to be further upgraded in order to ensure maximum
recovery once operations commence.
Security Upgrades
On-site security has now been upgraded with over 10km of electric fencing
around the site perimeter and high risk areas. Additional fire breaks have
also been created and existing fire breaks have been cleared in preparation
for the winter fire season.
Haulage roads
Approximately 7km of main haulage roads on site as well as the access road to
the part of the open pit where mining is scheduled to recommence has been
rehabilitated, upgraded or established (See Figure 1)
Rehabilitation of historic disturbance
Approximately 1.5ha of historic gold slimes and tailings have been
rehabilitated. This represents over 50% of the total rehabilitation
requirement.
Electrical infrastructure
Over 80 High voltage electrical poles have either been replaced or re-treated.
An additional 11KV 380V transfer has been installed and electrical
conductors and switch gear has been replaced and updated (see Figure 2)
Accommodation
Upgrades to accommodation continues and all current staff and management are
now accommodated on site
Processing Plant Upgrades
Upgrades to the dewatering and screening circuit has been completed (see
Figure 3 and 4). Engineering drawings have been completed to upgrade the
existing processing plant and include vibrating screens as well as an
additional crushing and milling circuit. This will create additional surge and
throughput capacity. The local procurement of suitable high-quality
second-hand equipment and components has commenced.
For the purposes of UK MAR, the person responsible for arranging the release
of this announcement on behalf of URA is Jeremy Sturgess-Smith, Chief
Operating Officer of URA Holdings Plc.
Figure 1. On site road construction in progress
Figure 2. Upgrades to the electrical circuits at the processing plant.
Figure 3. Installation of the dewatering screen.
Figure 4. View of the completed screening and dewatering circuit of the
processing plant.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
. END UPDBXGDLBDDDGXR