Discovery Metals Limited (DML) on Friday put smiles on its shareholders’ faces with revelations that Tawana Land Board has approved the granting of surface rights at the 100 percent owned Boseto Copper Project in north-west Botswana.
The Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed company said on its website that the milestone is the last external approval prerequisite to the Department of Mines (DoM) completing the processing of the Boseto mining lease application.
Brad Sampson, the company’s Managing Director, said on DML’s website that they remain on schedule for first production in two years.
“I am delighted that the Tawana Land Board has approved our application. We appreciate that this is the first major mining land use application for the Board and thank the Board for their efforts to expedite the processing of our application,” said Sampson.
“We look forward to being a valued community member for many years to come.
For the project, this approval means we can access the site as planned. We remain on schedule for delivering the first production at Boseto in the first half of 2012,” he said.
The Boseto mining lease application was formally lodged with the DoM on 15 October 2010. With the lodgement of the comprehensive Boseto proposal, the DoM approval process timetable commences and is not expected to impact the construction schedule.
The area approved is 4,418.45 hectares, which is the exact measurement as proposed in the application. Land rent is charged at P50 per hectare per year with escalation at 5 percent.
The total annual charge for use of the Boseto mining and infrastructure area, including the access road, will therefore be approximately A$35,000 (about P228, 000) per annum.
Discovery Metals is an AIM/ASX/BSE listed copper exploration and development company focused on the emerging Kalahari Copperbelt in north west Botswana.
The Company is currently developing its 100 percent owned Boseto Copper Project towards production in the first half of 2012.
The Kalahari Copperbelt sediment hosted mineralisation of the Boseto Copper Project is similar in style to the well known, extensive deposits of the Central African Copperbelt of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Currently, the company has prospecting licences covering 9,656 km2 along the Kalahari Copperbelt.
It recently instructed its Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors Sedgman Limited to begin construction at Boseto copper project.
Construction is scheduled to commence later this year and be completed by late 2011.
DML’s notice to Segman follows high on the heels of the announcement of the results from the Boseto Project’s Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) and the Boseto Development Plan (BDP) on 31 August 2010.
The BFS examined the open pit mining of proved and probable ore reserves only for an initial 5 year period, with power provided by diesel generation.
