Kasbah Resources has been one of several tin companies presenting at the Mines and Money conference and exhibition in Hong Kong this week and has given potential investors an indication of possible conclusions of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) on its Achmmach project in Morocco due in the fourth quarter of this year. Based on its recent resource upgrade and further exploration potential, the target is now to extend mine life to 10 years, compared to 6.6 years used in the pre-feasibility study (PFS) completed in May 2012. Indicative figures obtained by changing only the mine life and tin price assumptions in the 2012 PFS model push up the net present value of the project from US$79 million based on the actual May 2012 LME price to US$188 million at the 1 March 2013 price of $23,150/tonne and between $273 million and $333 million at assumed prices of $26,000/t and $28,000/t.
Kasbah identifies three areas offering exploration upside potential: the Eastern Zone Shallows portion of the existing main orebody, the parallel Sidi Addi Trend and the Bou El Jaj project 8 kilometres from Achmmach. The forthcoming DFS base case involves a one million tpy underground mine producing 6,000 – 7,000 tpy of tin-in-concentrate, with production potentially commencing at the end of 2014.
