Alara Resources commences production at copper-gold mine in Oman
Alara Resources (ASX: AUQ) has overcome manufacturing defects to successfully commence concentrate production at its Al Wash-hi – Majaza copper-gold mine and copper concentrate plant in Oman.
The project timeline was recently revised after manufacturing defects were identified during semi-autogenous grinding mill commissioning.
The manufacturing error was observed in the high-speed (HS) couplings of the mill.
With a new set of HS couplings expedited from China, Alara was able to achieve its significant milestone and is now preparing to ramp up production to full capacity over the next 2 to 3 months.
Al Wash-hi – Majaza is owned and operated by Alara’s 51% joint venture company Al Hadeetha Resources LLC (AHRL).
First sales imminent
In July last year, Alara reached an offtake agreement with commodities group Trafigura covering copper production from the Al Wash-hi Majaza project.
Alara says it is now on target for the sale of the first shipment of approximately 1000 dry metric tonnes of copper concentrate to Trafigura in April 2024.
Under the agreement with AHRL, Trafigura will purchase all of the copper concentrate produced at the mine for a period of eight years from the start of production.
Key achievement
“The commencement of concentrate production is a momentous occasion for Alara and its shareholders,” managing director Atmavireshwar Sthapak said.
“This represents the culmination of 12 years’ hard work, from project site identification through resource definition, detailed engineering studies, debt and equity financing [to] the construction phase just completed.”
“This great achievement would not have been possible without the enormous efforts of Alara’s joint venture partners in AHRL – Omani conglomerates Al Naba Services and Al Tasnim Enterprises – for which we are extremely grateful.”
“Their local experience, networks and contracting capabilities made an invaluable contribution to bringing this mine to production.”
Mr Sthapak said the start-up of production was an important step in Alara’s aim to become a mid-tier mining production company, involving a shift of focus to developing existing exploration projects and new acquisitions.
Mining underway
Mining at the project commenced in March 2022 to stockpile ore in readiness for processing infrastructure completion.
As of the end of December 2023, approximately 10.118 million tonnes of overburden had been removed and approximately 320,000t of copper ore had been mined, in addition to approximately 590,000t of oxidized ore (gossan) that was mined and stockpiled separately.
The importance of the project to Oman was highlighted in late December when the undersecretary of the nation’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals visited the site.
His visit came at a time when dry and cold commissioning exercises had been successfully completed for the project’s copper-concentration plant equipment.