The agreement, inked January 30 and also naming Blyvoor's holding company Target Mine Consulting, did not name the specific dams but confirmed all are in South Africa and have a combined JORC code-compliant resource of 1.34Moz.
Upon funding, initial production goals are 250,000t per month, ramping up to 500,000t/mth within two years. At 500,000t/mth, it is aiming for 35,000oz/y over 35 years.
"The project already has in place the requisite mining licence and environmental impact assessment for the reprocessing of the tailings, allowing production to commence immediately upon commissioning of the processing plant," Katoro executive chairman Louis Coetzee said.
The JV is a 50/50 between Katoro and Blyvoor/Target; Blyvoor first acquired the tailings in 2015 and 2016.
The group feels recoveries of 56% to 60% are achievable using proven mining and processing technologies.
