West Perth-based base metals producer Kagara Zinc Ltd will develop a plan of operations for its Mungana development in partnership with the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, after it concluded an environmental impact statement was not required.
The full text of a company announcement is pasted below
Kagara Zinc Ltd is pleased to announce that the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), having reviewed the Environmental Management Plan submitted by Kagara for the Mungana basemetal development, has concluded that an environmental impact statement is not required. The Company will now, in partnership with the EPA, develop a Plan of Operations for the mining and processing of the Mungana basemetal deposit.
It is anticipated that construction of the Mungana treatment plant and associated infrastructure will begin in April 2008 and take approximately ten months to complete with commissioning taking place in February 2009. The Mungana plant will produce 50,000 tonnes of zinc and 8,000 tonnes of copper annually, along with significant silver, gold and lead as by products.
The Mungana deposit is the highest value resource in Kagara's inventory and will produce zinc at below US$0.30 per pound of payable metal. Long lead items such as ball mills and filters have been purchased and delivered and an accommodation village capable of housing construction staff and later Kagara personnel has already been built at the nearby regional centre of Chillagoe. Total development costs are anticipated to be A$80 million. The decline at Mungana has advanced 2,200 metres from the portal and grade control drilling of the orebody will commence shortly.
Once commissioned, Mungana will increase Kagara's total zinc metal production to approximately 100,000 tonnes per annum and copper metal production to 45,000 tonnes per annum.
