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SASA, North Macedonia
Low cost zinc and lead production
CAML took 100% ownership of the Sasa underground zinc-lead mine in 2017. The mine is located in north-eastern North Macedonia, approximately 150km east of the capital city, Skopje, and 10km north of local town, Makedonska Kamenica.
The Sasa deposit was discovered during a period of exploration between 1954 and 1965. Trial mining commenced in 1965 and, in 1966, the mine commenced commercial production as a state-owned entity. The mine closed in 2002 and was placed into bankruptcy due to lack of funding. The Solway Investments Group subsequently purchased the mine, invested in new equipment and operations resumed in 2006. Solway Group later sold the mine to Fusion Capital and Orion Mine Finance Group in 2015.
Sasa lies within the Serbo-Macedonian Massif, which hosts a large number of lead and zinc deposits and extends through Serbia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, eastern Greece and into Turkey. The mine’s Svinja Reka and Golema Reka deposits are located on the eastern flank of a copper molybdenum porphyry deposit at Osogovo. Mineralisation occurs as stratiform deposits hosted predominantly by schists and marbles at Svinja Reka and by gneisses at Golema Reka. Hydrothermal fluids and bedding parallel faulting are responsible for the metasomatism of the host sediments that produce the skarn and base metal mineralisation. The deposits are well defined lenses of lead zinc silver mineralisation, which dip at about 35 degrees and range in thickness from 2 metres to 30 metres
Sasa mine life
SASA OVERVIEW
Watch the video to understand how we produce zinc and lead concentrates at Sasa.
Central Asia Metals North Macedonian Project
Lead and Zinc Mine owned by Central Asia Metals in North Macedonia
RECENT PRODUCTION
The following table shows recent Sasa mine and concentrate production for the past six years.
Year | Units | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PLANT FEED | ||||||||
Feed | t | 793,332 | 804,749 | 820,491 | 820,215 | 830,709 | 806,653 | 805,621 |
Pb grade | % | 3.98 | 3.90 | 3.77 | 3.85 | 3.52 | 3.63 | 3.70 |
Zn grade | % | 3.18 | 3.31 | 3.29 | 3.37 | 3.14 | 3.15 | 2.97 |
LEAD CONCENTRATE | ||||||||
Production | t (dry) | 40,757 | 40,317 | 40,366 | 41,289 | 37,893 | 38,439 | 39,136 |
Recovery | % | 94.6 | 93.6 | 94.5 | 94.3 | 93.1 | 93.4 | 93.1 |
Grade | % | 72.9 | 73.6 | 72.3 | 72.0 | 71.8 | 71.2 | 71.0 |
Pb in concentrate | t | 29,881 | 29,388 | 29,201 | 29,742 | 27,202 | 27,354 | 27,794 |
ZINC CONCENTRATE | ||||||||
Production | t (dry) | 43,676 | 46,128 | 47,104 | 47,583 | 44,383 | 42,824 | 40,226 |
Recovery | % | 85.5 | 84.6 | 86.5 | 86.1 | 84.9 | 84.6 | 85.0 |
Grade | % | 49.4 | 48.9 | 49.6 | 50.0 | 49.9 | 50.1 | 50.6 |
Zn in concentrate | t | 21,585 | 22,532 | 23,369 | 23,815 | 22,167 | 21,473 | 20,338 |
Sasa Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, December 2023
Tonnage | Grades | Contained Metal | Ag | Pb | Zn | Ag | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mt | Pb % | Zn % | g/t | kt | kt | koz | |
Svinja Reka – Reserves | |||||||
Probable | 9.0 | 4.0 | 2.6 | 29.8 | 359 | 236 | 8,661 |
Total | 9.0 | 4.0 | 2.6 | 29.8 | 359 | 236 | 8,661 |
Svinja Reka – Resources | |||||||
Indicated | 9.6 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 34.6 | 441 | 286 | 10,634 |
Inferred | 2.0 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 19.5 | 48 | 47 | 1,221 |
Total | 11.6 | 7.1 | 5.4 | 54.1 | 489 | 333 | 11,855 |
Golema Reka – Resources | |||||||
Indicated | 1.9 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 13.5 | 77 | 26 | 841 |
Inferred | 7.3 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 12.8 | 274 | 87 | 3,021 |
Total | 9.2 | 7.7 | 2.5 | 26.3 | 351 | 113 | 3,862 |
Notes – Svinja Reka Ore Reserve Statement
- Ore Reserves have an effective date of 31 December 2023.
- The Competent Person who has reviewed the Ore Reserves is Scott Yelland, C. Eng, FIMMM, MSc, who is a full-time employee and Chief Operating Officer of CAML. He is a mining engineer with over 40 years’ experience in the mining and metals industry, including operational experience in underground zinc and lead mines, and as such qualifies as a Competent Person
as defined in the JORC Code (2012). - The Ore Reserve is reported using a NSR cut-off of $46 per tonne for Sub-Level Caving, $53 per tonne for Cut and Fill and Long Hole Stoping and $37 per tonne for Ore Development drives that are required to establish stope access and are based on metal price assumptions of $2,550 per tonne for zinc, $2,000 per tonne for lead and $23 per ounce for silver.
- Rounding may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade and contained metal content.
- The Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves are reported in accordance with the guidelines of the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the ‘JORC Code’).
- Ore reserves have been estimated utilising 3D modelling software (Deswik) and are reported within practical mining shapes.
Notes – Mineral Resource Estimate for Svinja Reka and Golema Reka
- Mineral Resources have an effective date of 31 December 2023.
- The Competent Person for the declaration of Mineral Resources is Graham Greenway, BSc.Honours (Geology), PGeo. Graham Greenway, CAML’s Group Geologist, is a Practising Registrant of the Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and has over 35 years’ experience in the exploration, definition and mining of precious and base metal Mineral Resources, and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the type of activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a ‘Competent Person’ as defined by JORC and as required by the June 2009 Edition of the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. He has reviewed, and consents to, the inclusion in the Annual Report of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears and confirms that this information is accurate and not false or misleading.
- Mineral Resources are reported inclusive of Ore Reserves.
- The Svinja Reka Mineral Resource is reported based on a NSR cut-off of $46 per tonne for Sub-Level Caving and $53 per tonne for Cut and Fill and Long Hole Stoping and are based on metal price assumptions of $2,933 per tonne for zinc, $2,300 per tonne for lead and $26 per ounce for silver (these being 15% higher than the prices assumed for the Ore Reserve so as to include mineralisation that has “Reasonable prospects for eventual economic exploitation” but which is not economic assuming the prices used for reporting the Ore Reserve).
- The Golema Reka Mineral Resource is reported based on a NSR cut-off of $53 per tonne for Cut and Fill Stoping.
- Mineral Resources are reported as undiluted. No mining recovery has been applied in the Statement.
- Tonnages are reported in metric units, grades in percent (%) or grams per tonne (g/t), and the contained metal in metric units or ounces. Tonnages, grades, and contained metal totals are rounded appropriately.
- Rounding may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade and contained metal content.
How we produce Zinc and Lead Concentrates
Sasa is an underground zinc and lead mine that produces approximately 820,000 tonnes of ore each year. Accessed by an adit, the Svinja Reka deposit is currently mined using a sub-level caving method, which utilises the geotechnical characteristics of the weak hanging wall to allow the rock to cave naturally into the void remaining after ore has been blasted.
Main haulage levels are at 80 metre intervals, with sub-levels every 7 metres. Ore drives are typically 3.5 metres by 3.5 metres. Ore is mined using a top down approach without backfill. Ore is drilled using single boom jumbos, blasted and then excavated with underground loaders.
From the second half of 2022 the Sasa team will transition to a new mining method, cut and fill stoping, with approximately 90% of ore being extracted using this method by 2024. The voids will then be backfilled with paste material containing tailings to provide support, rather than allowing the roof to cave as is the case with the current sub-level caving method.
Once blasted, 70% of the ore is then sent via ore passes to the 830m level where it is transported by rail wagons to the Golema Reka shaft for hoisting, and the remaining 30% is hauled to surface via the adit.
Once at surface, ore is then crushed in three stages. The milling circuit then involves two rod mills, followed by spiral classifiers and then two ball mills to ensure material is the appropriate size for liberation by flotation at approximately 74 microns.
The processing plant then operates both lead and zinc flotation processes, producing separate concentrates that are filter pressed to produce products containing 5-9% moisture. The lead concentrate contains c.73% lead and the zinc concentrate contains c.49% zinc. The concentrates are stored in two separate bays before being loaded into haulage trucks for sale to smelters.
CAPITAL ProjectS
CAML is currently implementing its Cut and Fill Project, which comprises three components:
- Construction of a paste backfill plant and associated reticulation pipes
- Construction of a dry stack tailings plant and preparation of an associated landform
- Development of a new, wider and direct-access decline, known as the Central Decline
The purpose of the Cut and Fill Project is to:
- Facilitate the transition of Svinja Reka’s mining method from sub-level caving to cut and fill stoping
- This will result in a safer operation, and the improved geotechnical characteristics will ensure maximum extraction of Sasa’s mineral resources
- The paste ‘fill’ will be created using tailings from Sasa’s processing facilities. This, in combination with the proposed dry stack tailings plant, should ensure that Sasa does not have to build and utilise another wet tailings storage facility following TSF4
- This has allowed CAML to set a target of 70% of Sasa’s mineral waste being stored in a more environmentally responsible manner by the end of 2026.
Cut and fill stoping is a more selective mining method than sub-level caving, which is expected to achieve greater recovery of ore as well as reducing the dilution of ore with un-mineralised material. It is a bottom-up mining method involving drilling, blasting and mucking out of ore before filling voids with a backfill paste material containing tailings to provide support, rather than allowing the roof to cave as is the case with the current sub-level caving method. In order to achieve this, a backfill plant will be constructed, along with associated reticulation pipework to transport this material underground. Tailings from the processing facilities will be sent to the backfill plant to be thickened and pressed to contain 80% solids, and then mixed with a slurry containing cement, fly ash and water to produce a paste of the appropriate consistency. This is then distributed underground to fill stopes.
Given that a major component of the backfill material will be tailings generated from the Sasa processing plant, it is estimated that over 40% of Svinja Reka’s life of mine tailings will be stored underground. Approximately 30% of tailings will be stored in the current TSF4, and the remainder are expected to be filter pressed to remove much of the moisture and then stacked on a dry stack tailings landform. This is seen as a more environmentally attractive waste storage approach to a traditional wet tailings storage facility. This, in combination with other site initiatives, has enabled CAML to set a target of a 75% reduction in Sasa’s fresh water abstraction by the end of 2026.
Sasa is developing a new decline into the Svinja Reka orebody, known as the Central Decline. The new decline is larger in diameter that the existing decline in order to potentially facilitate the use of electric vehicles in the future. The decline will also provide a much more direct route to the orebody at depth, which should ensure the operation is more efficient. Total initial development will be approximately four kilometres.
Streaming agreement with Osisko Gold Royalties
Due to a long-standing streaming agreement with Osisko Gold Royalties, CAML will receive approximately $6/oz for its silver production for the life of the Sasa mine.