Quarterly Activities Report
ASX, AIM and Media Release
7 April 2014
Quarterly Activities Report
March 2014
HIGHLIGHTS:
* Maiden shipment of 25,000 tonnes of ilmenite departed port in February
bound for China.
* First product sales proceeds were received in March.
* Zircon production through the mineral separation plant commenced in
February with containerized zircon sales commencing in April.
* Fifth and final US$25 million drawdown on the Kwale Project Debt Facility
completed in January.
* The Kwale Project has now made the transition to the Kwale Operations.
Base Resources Limited (ASX & AIM: BSE) ("Base") ("Base" or the "Company") is
pleased to provide a quarterly production and commissioning update at its Kwale
Mineral Sands Operations ("Kwale Operations") in Kenya, East Africa. All work
packages are now complete and operational with only minor defect list items
remaining outstanding. The shiploader successfully underwent `load on'
commissioning during the quarter and regular bulk shipments of finished
products have commenced.
KWALE OPERATIONS
Following the commissioning of the ilmenite and rutile circuits of the mineral
separation plant ("MSP") in December 2013, first production from the zircon
circuit occurred in February. The main focus is now on balancing and
debottlenecking the zircon circuit as well as the metallurgical optimisation of
the remaining MSP circuits in order to progress the ramp-up to achieve design
throughput, recoveries, availability and runtime.
Mining activities proceeded according to plan with a number of dry mining unit
("DMU") moves successfully carried out. Mining rates increased steadily
averaging over 1,200tph with nameplate tonnages being demonstrated. Valuable
heavy mineral ("VHM") recovery in the wet concentrator is nearing design
performance.
Heavy mineral concentrate ("HMC") production was in line with ramp up
expectations and the grade of ore mined.
Slime and sand deposition proceeded according to plan and sealing of the
upstream sand wall face of the tailings storage facility with bitumen
impregnated geotextile commenced.
MSP commissioning proceeded well and by the end of the quarter debottlenecking
of the ilmenite and rutile circuits was virtually complete.
Design ilmenite recoveries have been achieved and by the end of the quarter
rutile recoveries were steadily improving with the implementation of some
design modifications. Further planned design modifications, seeking to address
the remaining identified areas of recovery losses, are currently underway and
are expected to result in achievement of design rutile recoveries over the
coming months.
The wet and dry zircon circuits were commissioned during February and
optimisation of throughput and recovery is in progress. A focus on
debottlenecking and defect rectification, prior to the EPCM engineer
demobilising from site at quarter end, meant that zircon production was
sacrificed in the short term. With the areas of concern now addressed, our
efforts are now concentrated on ramping up the zircon circuits and optimising
production which, due to the complexity of these circuits, will take place over
the next 12 months as planned.
The Likoni Port bulk loading facility was successfully commissioned with two
ships loaded during the quarter and the first shipment of containerised zircon
was despatched to Mombasa Port.
SUMMARY PHYSICAL DATA
Oct-13 Nov-13 Dec-13 Q4-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Q1-14
Total Total
Ore mined (dmt) 105,304 275,315 451,373 831,992 583,928 661,725 695,298 1,940,951
HMC produced(dmt) 4,080 10,163 28,229 42,472 28,746 42,998 41,452 113,196
Production (dmt)
Ilmenite 0 0 5,539 5,539 15,686 24,872 27,635 68,193
Rutile 0 0 152 152 1,969 2,902 3,972 8,843
Zircon 0 0 0 0 0 37 319 356
Sales (dmt)
Ilmenite 0 0 0 0 0 25,300 22,000 47,300
Rutile 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Zircon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SAFETY PERFORMANCE
Kwale Operations suffered its first Lost Time Injury (LTI) when a trainee
operator suffered a hand injury in a conveyor incident. The injury was non-life
threatening and the employee is back at work on alternate duties. The incident
investigation recommended a number of corrective actions, including design
changes, which have been fully implemented.
COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT
Rehabilitation of construction areas following contractor demobilisation is
ongoing, with successful revegetation and indigenous tree planting continuing
to take place across all areas.
Road safety remains an important feature of our community sensitisation
programme and 37 schools were visited along the transport corridor to discuss
the hazards, with an emphasis on heavy vehicles including Base's mineral haul
trucks.
Plans are well advanced with respect to the preliminary agricultural trials for
a series of projects being conducted in conjunction with Business for
Millennium Development aimed at significantly improving agricultural
livelihoods in the region.
Several community construction programmes have been completed in the quarter
including a training centre in Bwiti, emergency repairs to Matuga Girls
Secondary School, construction of new ablution facilities for Mwapala Primary
School and work commenced on replacing a Likoni primary school roof blown off
by high winds.
Base's collaboration with Little Sports Organisation in providing after school
sports to primary school children has shown very positive results. This
programme has recently expanded from 6 schools to 11 schools in nearby
communities and is focussed on teaching life skills through play and sports
activities.
BUDGET
The estimated cost at completion for the Kwale Project remains at US$310
million.
FINANCING
In January, the additional US$25 million project finance facility executed in
December 2013 was drawn, bringing the total debt facilities drawn to US$215
million.
MARKETING
Base completed two bulk shipments of ilmenite during the March quarter (a total
of 47,300 tonnes) and have vessels booked for three further bulk ilmenite
shipments during April and May.
A bulk shipment of rutile and a container shipment of zircon were previously
scheduled for the latter part of March but vessel availability has resulted in
the bookings for these shipments falling into the early part of April.
Reports from major pigment producers indicate continued improvement in pigment
demand, with inventory levels and plant utilisation rates normalising in the
early part of 2014. Producer inventory of titanium dioxide feedstock remains at
elevated levels which is maintaining pressure on feedstock prices. However, as
the excess inventory position is run down, the pricing position of titanium
dioxide feedstock is expected to improve. Recent industry results commentary
points towards possible feedstock price improvement (including rutile and
ilmenite) during the second half of 2014.
Demand for zircon has remained firm through the March quarter with reports of
good trade activity. Stocks of zircon held by producers continued to be run
down and prices stabilised through the March quarter with some major zircon
producers increasing their offered pricing for zircon sales in the June
quarter.
CORPORATE
In summary, at 31 March 2014:
• Cash and cash equivalents were A$27.8 million.
• Debt drawn of US$215.0 million.
• 561,840,029 shares on issue.
• 16,600,000 unlisted options.
A full PDF version of the announcement is available at the Company's website:
www.baseresources.com.au.
ENDS
For further enquiries contact:
Base Resources Limited
Tim Carstens
Managing Director
Email: tcarstens@baseresources.com.au
Phone: +61 (0)8 9413 7400
RFC Ambrian Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
As Nominated Adviser As Broker
Andrew Thomson or Trinity McIntyre Jonathan Williams
Phone: +61 (0)8 9480 2500 Phone: +44 20 3440 6800
Africapractice (East Africa) (Kenyan Media Relations)
David Maingi/ James Njuguna/Joan Kimani
Phone: +254 (0)20 239 6899
Email: jkimani@africapractice.com
Tavistock Communications (UK Media Relations)
Jos Simson / Emily Fenton / Nuala Gallagher
Phone: +44 (0) 207 920 3150
Cannings Purple (Australian Media Relations)
Annette Ellis / Warrick Hazeldine
Email: aellis@canningspurple.com.au
whazeldine@canningspurple.com.au
Phone: +61 (0)8 6314 6300
TENEMENT SCHEDULE:
Tenement Number Interest Location
Special Mining Licence 23 100% Kwale - Kenya
Exploration Licence 173 100% Kwale North - Kenya
CORPORATE DETAILS
Board of Directors:
Andrew King Non-Executive Chairman
Tim Carstens Managing Director
Colin Bwye Executive Director
Sam Willis Non-Executive Director
Michael Anderson Non-Executive Director
Trevor Schultz Non-Executive Director
Michael Macpherson Non-Executive Director
Winton Willesee Company Secretary
Principal & Registered Office: Contacts:
Level 1 Email: info@baseresources.com.au
50 Kings Park Road Phone: +61 (0)8 9413 7400
West Perth Fax: +61 (0)8 9322 8912
WA 6005