First Bauxite Corporation Announces Positive Feasibility Study Results for Its Bonasika Refractory Bauxite Project in Guyana
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/29/10 -- FIRST BAUXITE CORPORATION ('First Bauxite' or the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: FBX)(FRANKFURT: FBI)(BERLIN: FBI) is pleased to announce the positive Feasibility Study ('FS') results for its 100% owned, Bonasika refractory grade bauxite project (the 'Project') located in Guyana, South America. The FS was based on the bauxite reserves of the Bonasika 1, 2 & 5 deposits, which are within the Bonasika Mining License. In addition a NI 43-101 Compliant Mineral Resource estimate was also completed for the Upper Waratilla-Cartwright ('UWC') deposit located within the Waratilla-Cartwright Prospecting License ('WCPL'). Met-Chem Canada Inc ('Met-Chem') of Montreal, Canada was the lead author of the FS with participation and contribution of several industry experts and consultants.
The FS commenced in September 2009 and has considered all aspects related to development of the Project, including in-situ geology, mining, metallurgy, processing and engineering, economics, marketing, social and environmental considerations. The Feasibility Study defines and confirms the viability of an operation based on sequential mining of the three (3) bauxite deposits located on the Bonasika Mining License by open-pit, truck and excavator mining, with the mined ore trucked for processing at a central wash plant facility located less than 2 km from the Bonasika 1 & 2 pits. The wash plant concentrate will be transported 23 km to the sintering plant and load out facilities at Sand Hills. The Mine will operate at a production rate of 298,500 metric tons ('tonnes') of raw, dry bauxite per year or 1,148 tonnes per day, the wash plant will produce 162,232 tonnes of washed bauxite concentrate and the two vertical pressurised shaft kilns will produce 100,000 tonnes per year of sintered bauxite final product. The Bonasika proven bauxite reserves support a mine life of 8.4 years at an average cash operating cost of US$182 per tonne of sintered bauxite.
(All figures in US Dollars except where noted)
Highlights of the Feasibility Study include:
-- Target production of 100,000 tonnes of high quality sintered bauxite
annually;
-- Operations located 60 km from Georgetown, the capital of Guyana;
-- Approximately, 7.5 million tonnes of Measured and Indicated mineral
resources identified at Bonasika 1, 2 and 5 deposits and the UWC
deposit;
-- Mineral Reserves have been determined only from the 3 Bonasika deposits,
totaling 2.5 million tonnes of which 69% are Proven and 31% Probable,
producing a mine life of 8.4 years for the Project. The UWC resources
were drilled concurrently with the FS work, and thus no Mineral Reserves
were determined from UWC for the purpose of this FS;
-- Relatively simple open-pit mining using a hydraulic excavator and load
haul trucks to direct mine the soft bauxite ores and remove the shallow
overburden;
-- Low mining operating costs at US$1.21 per tonne of total material mined
average over the mine life which corresponds to US$8.01 per tonne
processed or US$23.91 per tonne of final product;
-- Efficient, simple, low cost beneficiation for sizing and washing of
bauxite ore to a low silica concentrate at $7.20 per tonne (US$3.89 per
tonne of raw bauxite);
-- Low cost and relatively short 23 km concentrate haul to the Sand Hills
sintering plant and dock, at $4.13 per tonne (US$2.23 per tonne of ore
processed);
-- State of the art technology, vertical shaft kilns produce enhanced bulk
density sintered bauxite product with zero particulate emissions, while
consuming less than 50% of the energy consumed for equivalent output by
a rotary kiln;
-- Direct employment of 207 employees at the mine and the two processing
plants;
-- Total estimated capital costs for the Project of US$112.8 million with
sustaining capital costs of US$7.5 million during the Bonasika mine
life;
-- A pre-tax Internal Rate of Return of 16.2% and a post-tax IRR of 12.2%
on a US$182 per tonne (final product) cash operating costs and a US$475
per tonne FOB price; and
-- Sensitivity analyses suggests that the Project is robust and can
withstand adverse changes between 10-20% in most critical parameters,
such as capital and operating costs, fuel prices and product price.
-- Significant upside potential:
-- The UWC NI 43-101 Compliant drilling has indicated a Mineral
Resource of 4.9 million tonnes of high quality refractory bauxite,
which has not been included in the FS economic evaluation; work is
under way to complete the mineral reserves estimate to allow the
inclusion of this UWC resource in the future mine plan; and
-- A new recently discovered outcropping bauxite zone in the WCPL and
named the Lower Waratilla Prospect ('LWC') is currently subject of
an aggressive drilling campaign; indications are it is a comparable
size deposit to UWC, with similar quality bauxite, but at
considerably shallower depth is now the target of a Preliminary
Economic Analysis ('PEA') to determine the viability of including it
in the bauxite resource base and future mine plans.
Incorporating UWC and WCPL into the current mine plan will potentially extend the current mine life, reduce operating costs and enable project expansion to be considered.
Yannis Tsitos, the Company's President & Director, stated: 'This Feasibility Study substantiates the quality of our bauxite assets in Guyana and represents a solid foundation upon which we will build and expand First Bauxite Corporation. Today, we have taken another major step towards realizing our vision of building a financially robust refractory grade bauxite operation in Guyana. Backed with the Mineral Reserves of Bonasika and the additional Indicated bauxite resource from upper Waratilla, the development of the Bonasika Project will unlock value not only for the shareholders of the Company, but for all related Project stakeholders and especially the local communities and the people of Guyana.'
Hilbert Shields, the Company's CEO & Director, stated: 'The challenge facing a new supplier of refractory grade bauxite is to convince the customer that he can be assured of a reliable supply of consistent quality product at a cost that allows him to be globally competitive. With completion of our Feasibility Study, where our approach has been to technically engineer the raw bauxite feed for our modern vertical pressurized shaft kilns, First Bauxite has overcome this challenge and now seeks to further enhance project economics. Guysin-90, First Bauxite's proprietary product, will boast superior chemical and density qualities since the natural inhomogeneities found in all raw bauxites, including the traditionally high quality Guyana ores, is minimized through the micronization of the raw bauxite for enhanced liberation of accessory impurities, and subsequent controlled, blended aggregation into dense briquettes to feed an energy efficient, zero dust emission, German engineered vertical pressurized shaft kiln. This project is exciting to develop since it 'moves refractory bauxite production out of the stone age' (paraphrased after Bill McCracken) and introduces new, energy efficient and environmentally friendly technology by creating a new value added product to complement Guyana's traditional spectrum of quality refractory bauxites.'
BONASIKA FEASIBILITY STUDY
Contributors
The FS is based on technical information generated by Met-Chem together with First Bauxite personnel and supporting input from independent firms with specific technical expertise. Table 1 lists the responsible contributors to the various parts of the FS:
Table 1: Feasibility Study Contributors
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COMPONENT RESPONSIBILITY, CONTRIBUTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project History, Property Holdings First Bauxite
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geology, Deposit Model, Drilling, Bryan Osborne, Aluminpro
Sampling
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geologic Interpretation, Resource Bryan Osborne, Aluminpro
Estimate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mineral Reserves, Pit Design, Mine Met-Chem
Planning
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mineral Processing, Metallurgical Met-Chem, George Bennett
Testing Consulting LLC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Briquetting and Sintering Plant Design Polysius AG
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geotechnical Golder Associates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Infrastructure, Wharf Cemco, First Bauxite
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tailings, Water Management, Roche
Environmental
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environment, Permitting & Community Environment Management
Consultants (EMC)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal and Regulatory First Bauxite
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CAPEX, OPEX, Price Survey Met-Chem, First Bauxite
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Financial Analysis Met-Chem, MICON
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exploration Drilling & Mineral Resources
The Bonasika Deposits and WCPL were historically drilled by DEMBA, a local subsidiary of ALCAN; this historical drilling for which excellent drill logs were recovered, served to guide the sonic drilling programs of First Bauxite Corporation.
Table 2 summarizes the results of the sonic drilling exploration campaigns undertaken by First Bauxite on the Bonasika ML and the WCPL, between June 2008 and May 2010.
Table 2: Exploration Drilling Work Summary 2008-2010
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
WCPL
Exploration UWC
Activity Bonasika 1 Bonasika 2 Bonasika 5 Deposit
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Holes
Drilled 237 166 58 150
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Total (m) 5363 3658 1568 6981
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average Hole
Depth (m) 22.6 22.0 27.0 46.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drill Hole 60 x 30 &
Spacing (m) 60 x 60 60 x 30 60 x 60 85 x 85
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Cross
Sections (E-W) 16 16 10 18
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mineralised Area
Drilled (m) 400 x 1,300 400 x 500 200 x 700 1600 x 700
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource statement has been prepared for all three of the Bonasika deposits using cut-off grades of greater than 48% Al2O3, less than 20% SiO2 and less than 5% Fe2O3; cut-offs chosen to yield washed bauxite grades of sufficient quality to produce sintered (calcined) refractory bauxite of the target specification. The Mineral Resource statement for the three Bonasika deposits is shown in Table 3.
Since November 2009, First Bauxite has been actively sonic drilling on the WCPL; the UWC deposit has been drilled to depths of 60 m, with the average thickness of the overburden and bauxite horizon being 40 m and 4.1 m respectively. A NI 43-101 compliant drill indicated Mineral Resource statement was also prepared for the UWC deposit. As shown by Table 3, UWC, which remains still open to the north, hosts a significant resource of bauxite with high alumina and low silica and iron content.
Table 3: Mineral Resource Statement for Bonasika & UWC
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resources Tonnage Al2O3 LOI SiO2 TiO2 Fe2O3
Kt % % % % %
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonasika 1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 1,443 55.80 28.40 11.50 1.90 2.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 90 53.90 27.60 13.70 1.90 2.50
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub-total 1,533 55.69 28.35 11.70 1.90 2.03
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonasika 2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured 342 54.73 27.56 13.55 1.93 1.69
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 90 54.86 27.55 13.42 1.79 1.85
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub-total 432 54.75 27.56 13.52 1.90 1.73
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonasika 5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 645 55.06 27.86 12.75 1.76 1.98
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upper Waratilla
Cartwright
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 4,918 58.94 29.36 7.85 2.28 1.01
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In May 2009 the LWC, a zone of similar grade bauxite as the UWC, was discovered outcropping in the southern sector of the WCPL. Current drilling at LWC is indicating a significant resource of similar quality bauxite at considerably shallower depths.
Mineral Reserves
Mineral Reserves were only determined for the Bonasika 1, 2 & 5 deposits of the Bonasika Mining License. For greater clarity no Mineral Reserves were determined for the UWC deposit of the WCPL and the NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource listed in Table 3 is not included in the mining plan and economic analysis in this Bonasika Feasibility Study.
Mineral Reserves for the Bonasika open pit mine were determined by Met-Chem who imported the Aluminpro mineral resource database into Minesight 4.6 and validated the block model. Open pit optimization was conducted on all three Bonasika deposits to determine the pit limits using the pit optimizer module in Minesight, which uses the 3 D Lerch-Grossman algorithm to evaluate the economic viability of each ore block in the model. Only ore blocks in the Measured and Indicated categories were included in the pit optimizer; Inferred ore blocks were treated as waste. The production target was 100,000 tonnes of final product (sintered bauxite); in order to meet this production the mining operation is required to supply 298,500 tonnes of dry run of mine ore annually.
Table 4 below lists the Mineral Reserves, which formed the basis of the Mine Plan.
Table 4: Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
Ore OB Waste Waste Strip Al2O3 Fe2O3 SiO2 TiO2 LOI
(kt) (kt) (kt) (kt) Ratio (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonasika 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proven 1,398 - - - - 54.6 2.15 12.6 1.9 27.8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probable 63 - - - - 52.7 2.93 14.6 1.9 27.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 1,461 3,987 4,186 8,173 5.6 54.5 2.18 12.7 1.9 27.7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonasika 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proven 330 - - - - 53.9 1.77 14.8 1.9 27.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probable 76 - - - - 54.0 1.93 14.6 1.8 27.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 406 1,398 796 2,194 5.4 53.9 1.80 14.8 1.9 27.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonasika 5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proven 0 - - - - 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.0 0.0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probable 637 - - - - 54.2 2.08 13.9 1.7 27.1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 637 1,477 2,169 3,646 5.7 54.2 2.08 13.9 1.7 27.1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
All Deposits
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proven 1,728 - - - - 54.5 2.08 13.0 1.9 27.6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probable 776 - - - - 54.0 2.14 14.1 1.7 27.1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL
RESERVES 2,504 6,862 7,151 14,013 5.6 54.3 2.10 13.3 1.8 27.4
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Mine Plan
The mining method selected for the Bonasika project is conventional truck and excavator for both overburden stripping and ore mining. The shallow pit depth, low production levels and soft ground conditions favor a fleet of backhoe oriented hydraulic excavators and articulated haul trucks. Mine operations for the Bonasika Mine are planned for 5 days a week, using three 8 hour shifts, and will start at Bonasika 2, which will produce for 16 months before mining shifts to Bonasika 1 which will produce for the next five years; Bonasika 5 will be mined last. Mining at each pit is scheduled to ensure grade control such that the average feed grade to the plant is achieved through both selective mining and blending from up to nine stockpiles at the wash plant.
The initial mining fleet will consist of 2 CAT 365 Excavators, 3-6 CAT 730 ADT trucks and two CAT dozers to both strip the waste and overburden and supply ore to the washplant, located less than 2 km away. The wash plant concentrate will be hauled 23 km to the sinter plant at Sand Hills using 4 Kenworth C 500 trucks of 30m3 capacity. A total mine work force of 40 to 62 employees will be required to operate the Bonasika Mine and 18 employees will be needed for concentrate haulage.
Rejects & Water Management
Rejects produced at the Bonasika site are sterile as the process does not use any chemicals and the waste material is composed mainly of fine clay, very small amounts of iron oxides and unrecovered bauxite. These components are inert and do not require any treatment prior to deposition in the basins. Rejects quantity to be managed over the life of the project is 1.15 Mt, at an estimated density of the 1.25t/m3 and a solids content of 17.3%, the estimated volume of rejects per annum is 110,000 m3. Two rejects basins, lined with geotextile fabric, with a polishing pond before final discharge, have been designed to contain slimes from the first 2 years of operation. In these basins, rejects water and rejects remain at or below ground level and the good permeability of the sand permits infiltration and discharge to the lower level polishing pond. At the end of life of the Bonasika 2 pit, the rejects will be directed to that pit.
Bonasika Wash Plant
The Bonasika Wash (process) Plant is located near the Bonasika open pits and includes equipment for ore size reduction and for scrubbing/washing away the kaolinitic clays for overall reduction of silica. The concentrate produced in this facility will have an alumina content near 60% while silica is targeted at less than 4%.
Metallurgical testing was done to characterize the bauxites and produce a flow sheet that would allow for the production from the Bonasika raw feed bauxite of refractory product after sintering of the following quality: AL2O3 greater than 85.0%, Fe2O3 less than 2.0%, SiO2 less than 6.2% while maximizing recovery. The main impurities in the bauxite lithologies are the kaolin (which bears the silica) and the various iron bearing, mostly hydroxide, minerals. To develop the flowsheet, several tests were conducted at various locations where equipment and technical services were available. The accumulated test results indicate that proper blending of ore combined with desliming and dry high intensity magnetic separation, are necessary elements of the process flow sheet required to ensure the quality of the final product.
The run of mine ore will be stockpiled in front of the crusher to facilitate blending of the feed over a grizzly to the primary roll crusher, the crushed product is fed to a log washer for clay scrubbing and then to a vibrating deck screen. All screen oversize is directed to a cage mill in closed circuit with the wet screen; all sized material from the screen is pumped to a de-sliming cyclone with the process 'unders' proceeding to a hindered settling cell for removal of fine kaolins. Cell product is directed to a belt filter for dewatering and then into storage awaiting transport to the sinter plant at Sand Hills.
The Bonasika Wash Plant will operate for 260 days a year 5 days per week and two 8-hour shifts per day and will be operated by a staff of 32 employees; the plant has a rated throughput of 1,148 dry tonnes per day.
Sand Hills Sinter (process) Plant
The Sinter Plant will be located at Sand Hills on the west bank of the Demerara River; Bauxite concentrate produced at the Bonasika site plant will be loaded into trucks and hauled, on an unpaved company built road, approximately 23 kms to the Sinter plant. This plant is designed to perform drying, magnetic separation to reduce iron bearing minerals, fine grinding, agglomeration, sintering and material handling including loading sintered bauxite onto ocean going vessels of up to 6,500 metric tonnes capacity.
The flow sheet for the Sand Hills plant, for which capacity has been established at 477 tonnes per day, consists of retrieval of bauxite concentrate from storage using a front end loader to feed the product to a fluid bed dryer where the washed bauxite concentrate is dried and then sized and fed to a bank of parallel, dry magnetic separators; some 5% of the feed stream is lost to the magnetic concentrate fraction. The dried, non-magnetic product is then fine ground in an airswept roller mill which discharges into pug mixers delivering feed to multiple briquetting presses. The green briquettes are elevated to two Polysius vertical pressurized shaft kilns, each rated at 50,000 tonnes per annum production capacity, to be sintered at approximately 1650 degrees C to yield the final, First Bauxite branded GUYSIN-90, high density, sintered bauxite product.
The Sand Hills plant, which will be staffed by 75 employees, will operate for 340 days per year, seven days per week and 24 hours per day; with a planned shutdown of 2 weeks per year for maintenance including kiln refractory liner maintenance.
Infrastructure
The Bonasika Mine site and the Sand Hills sinter plant and dock site are within 60 km of Georgetown, the capital city of Guyana; while Sand Hills is on the bank of the navigable Demerara River, the sites are isolated from significant population centers and there are no services such as roads, potable water and electricity. First Bauxite will construct an essential new 23 km unpaved but all weather road to service the mine and wash plant and install a 9.6 megawatts power plant at Sand Hills and a wharf facility with 7 meter draft to accommodate small ocean going vessels of up to 6500 tonne cargo capacity. A 25 kV power line will be built alongside the haul road to supply power to the washplant and support services and power and water will be provided to the few inhabitants of Sand Hills and the neighboring community of Vreed-en-Rust. A site camp facility will have to be established to house employees and office, warehousing, water and sewage treatment and all similar ancillary service facilities will have to be built.
Environmental & Permitting
The environmental and legal framework for construction and operation of a mining project in Guyana is a combination of national, regional and international policies, regulations and guidelines applicable in Guyana. Guyana Industrial Minerals Inc. ('Ginmin'), a 100% owned local subsidiary of First Bauxite, has an existing valid Mining License to operate the Bonasika Mines, in June the company applied to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission ('GGMC') to expand the size of the Mining License to cover the Bonasika Plant site, the site of the tailings basins and to make the Mining License contiguous with the WCPL. (See press release of July 6, 2010). Ginmin in 2004 was issued the Environmental Permit necessary to operate the Bonasika Mine; in 2009 Ginmin applied for renewal of the Environmental Permit and was asked to submit an amended EIA and EMP to support that application, this was submitted on July 20th, 2010.
Production Parameters, Capital & Operating Costs
The principal production parameters and Capital and Operating cost estimates are shown in the Table 5. The FS cost estimates were done to an accuracy of +/-15%, there is a contingency of 11.5%; electricity generation cost were estimated at US$0.12 per kWh and fuel costs were based on an average crude oil reference price of US$80.00 per barrel. Total workforce during normal operation is estimated to be 207 employees.
Table 5: Project Principal Life of Mine Production and Cost parameters
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life of Mine Production
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ore Mined 2,504,000 tonnes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Waste & Overburden Mined 14,013,000 tonnes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strip Ratio 5.6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Production Rates
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mining Rate 298,500 tpa
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mine Life 8.4 years
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recovery 33.5%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Production of sintered bauxite 100,000 tpa
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capital Costs (USD)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonasika Site $20.571 million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sand Hills Site $58.045 million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indirect Costs $34.195 million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Initial Capital $112.811 million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sustaining Capital $7.523 million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Capital $120.334 million
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life of Mine Operating Costs (USD)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mining $8.01 per tonne processed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ore Processing $3.89 per tonne processed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentrate Transport $2.23 per tonne processed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ore Processing - Sand Hills Plant $36.69 per tonne processed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Infrastructure & Services $2.33 per tonne processed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
General and Administration $7.92 per tonne processed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub Total $61.07 per tonne processed
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating Cost per tonne of product $182.29 per tonne of final
product, GUYSIN-90
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Price Survey
Met-Chem conducted a final product price survey to establish a market price for First Bauxite's Guysin-90 sintered bauxite product for use in the FS. The survey was based on a review of the technical literature on refractory market and products. Based on this review it was decided, for this FS, to use a sale price of US$475 per tonne F.O.B. vessel, Guyana.
Calcined or sintered refractory bauxite is an important industrial mineral used in the manufacturing of thermally, chemically and physically resistant materials, 'refractories'. Refractory products are used as linings of furnaces wherever industrial processes need to be contained at elevated temperatures or corrosive environments. Hence the materials industry (i.e. steel, glass, cement, copper, building bricks, etc) is totally reliant on refractory products. The European, American, and the global refractory industry, is currently dependent on bauxite imports from China or production in Guyana from a deposit owned by the Chinese company, Bosai Minerals. The exports of refractory bauxite from China are restricted and export duties have been imposed, resulting in an intense search by global, non-Chinese, refractory companies for alternative refractory bauxite resources.
Project Schedule & Development
The project implementation schedule is 18 months, this includes detailed engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the facilities including the main access road, the ore processing installations, the power line to Bonasika site, the siltation ponds, the power plant installations, the wharf and the site infrastructure required for the project.
The critical path of the Project is dictated by the sinter plant. To achieve the proposed schedule, the procurement of long lead equipment such as: vertical kilns, fluid bed dryer, briquetting presses, power generation equipment, etc. must be completed during the first stage of detailed engineering. Concurrently the main access road and site preparation design and contract documents and procurement must be completed and awarded to successful contractor(s) to allow for subsequent activities to start on time. The wharf execution should be done early in the project to allow for easy unloading of process equipment and other material required for the construction project.
Project Evaluation and Economics
The Bonasika Bauxite Project is an economically viable project based on the assumptions used in this feasibility study.
The Bonasika Project yields a NPV at a discount rate of 7.5% of US$41.2 million before tax and US$19.4 million after tax. The undiscounted cash flow is US$115.3 million before tax and US$73.9 million after tax. The before-tax and after-tax cash flows evaluate to internal rates of return (IRR) of 16.2% and 12.2% respectively. The project cash flow shows an undiscounted project payback period of 4.5 years and 6.4 years at an annual discount rate of 7.5%.
The key financial assumptions are shown in Table 6:
Table 6: Financial Assumptions
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Refractory bauxite Price US$475 per tonne
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Allowance for off-spec material 5%
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Discount for off-spec material 20%
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Royalty 1.5% of gross revenue
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Corporate Tax Rate 35%
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Capital Depreciation 20% per year
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Accounts Receivable 90% paid on shipping
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Risks and Opportunities
Opportunities to enhance the project economics include the following:
-- Conversion of the 4.9 million tonnes of indicated resources at UWC into
mineral reserves through in-fill definition drilling and the necessary
engineering tests;
-- Definition of additional bauxite resource discovered in other parts of
the Waratilla-Cartwright PL beyond the above mentioned indicated
resource - areas currently under drilling in the south and north into
the newly defined Bonasika ML;
-- Preparation of a NI 43-101 compliant PEA for mining the UWC deposit to
analyze opportunities to extend the life of the operation, enhance
profits and achieve operating flexibility and efficiencies;
-- Conduct additional test work on the hydraulic classification overflows
from the three (3) Bonasika lithologies treated. These overflows contain
from 28 to 62% gibbsite. Further recovery of part of this gibbsite will
further optimize the flow sheet and improve the currently estimated 33%
recovery; and
-- Detailed engineering to review the opportunities to reduce capital
costs.
Risks and mitigation strategy include the following:
-- Managing the construction direct and indirect costs by an experienced
EPCM team.
-- Engaging an independent expert to conduct an updated refractory bauxite
market study to establish world market reception to a new source of
premium quality sintered bauxite product;
-- Continued collaboration with potential off-take customers to refine
product/process as required;
Next Steps
First Bauxite's Board of Directors ('BOD') has reviewed the Feasibility Study and has accepted management's recommendation to approve the FS and authorize advancing the project towards development. Specifically, the BOD has authorized the tendering of the detail engineering contracts and instructed management to:
-- Advance the LWC ore body to NI 43-101 Compliant Mineral Reserve status
and complete, before the end of 2010, a PEA level evaluation of the
impact of mining the LWC on the Bonasika Project economics;
-- Retain a Financial Advisor to prepare a financing plan;
-- Retain a Independent Consultant to conduct a market price and supply
impact study;
-- Pursue off-take agreements directly with end user customers as well as
through experienced distribution agents;
-- Initiate detailed engineering of critical path long lead-time items.
Conference Call
First Bauxite will hold a conference call today Thursday, July 29th 2010 at 6:00pm EST where senior management will discuss the feasibility study and respond to questions from analysts and investors. To join the call:
In North America, Toll Free Access: 1-800-920-7487
International Access: 1-404-920-1710
Participant Pass Code: 64593659 #
About First Bauxite Corporation
First Bauxite Corporation (TSX VENTURE: FBX) is a Canadian natural resources company engaged in the exploration and development of bauxite deposits, through resource discovery and mining within a niche industrial market. The company has its head-office in Vancouver and its current assets in Guyana, South America and is managed by experienced geoscientists and business development professionals with worldwide experience in the exploration and mining business across a number of mineral commodities. The mission of First Bauxite is to become a near term, medium size producer and supplier of high quality refractory grade calcined bauxite. First Bauxite controls a large land package in Guyana's historical coastal bauxite belt, including the Bonasika Mining License and the Waratilla Prospecting License, covering deposits which were drilled in 1940's-60's by ALCAN and which host near surface deposits of refractory grade bauxite. The Company has commissioned a Feasibility Study over the Bonasika Project to analyze the technical and economic parameters of an independent mining and processing operation and is currently drilling the Waratilla bauxite deposits to outline the resources and to upgrade the historical reserves to NI 43-101 compliance. First Bauxite has additional upside potential to the metallurgical bauxite business, through an option agreement with Rio Tinto Mining and Exploration Ltd, whereby Rio can earn up to 75% interest in the Company's exploration ground by expending up to US$58 million in stages. Finally, the Company has entered into an agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Bauxite Corporation of Guyana Inc. ('BCGI') and accordingly, 100% of its interest in the contiguous Tarakuli and Tarakuli North-West Prospecting Licenses in Northeast Guyana, which host an historical inferred bauxite resource of significant size and quality. For further information on First Bauxite Corporation, please visit our corporate website at www.firstbauxite.com.
Qualified Person's Statement
Mr. Daniel Houde, Eng., of Met-Chem Canada Inc., a qualified person under NI 43-101, is independent of the Corporation and has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release and found it conform to the Feasibility Study Report.
A NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report will be filed on the Company's website and on SEDAR within 45 days.
On behalf of The Board of Directors of First Bauxite Corporation
Ioannis (Yannis) Tsitos, President & Director
Hilbert N. Shields, CEO & Director
This document contains certain forward looking statements which involve known and unknown risks, delays, and uncertainties not under the Company's control which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the results, performance or expectation implied by these forward looking statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
First Bauxite Corporation
Ioannis (Yannis) Tsitos
President & Director
604-806-0916
604-806-0956 (FAX)
www.firstbauxite.com