IMP will be building a Lead and Zinc Concentrate Plant with targeted capacity of 46,500 metric tons of Ore Input per month (the “Targeted Capacity”). Assuming a metal content of 25% and a recovery rate of 90%, this will produce nearly 20,000 metric tons of Concentrate each month of Lead and Zinc Concentrate. This capacity will also produce Copper Concentrate as IMP Ore contains around 2% Copper, and earn revenue from Silver content of 5 – 7 grams per metric ton of Ore processed.
Construction will be split into two phases:
Once Concentrate production begins, IMP will sell Lead Concentrate both domestically and internationally, while Zinc Concentrate will be exported, as there is no domestic market. By 2022, however, this Concentrate will become the feedstock for the IMP-owned Smelting & Purification Plant in Cikande.
We will place the Concentrate Plant at the mine site because Concentrate contains 51% to 60% metal content, which is around double that of Ore, meaning that transport costs for Concentrate from the mine to the Smelting & Purification Plant are half those of Ore.
The location at the mine site will be set approximately half way between the Anomaly and the Site B pit to minimize internal hauling costs, and will be set on a hillside to allow a gravity based design.
Below is a schematic of the equipment and process flow of a standard Lead-Zinc Concentrate Plant (also called a Beneficiation Plant) similar to what IMP will be building. IMP will actually be building a Lead-Zinc-Copper Plant and separating Copper Concentrate for sale as well.
IMP’s Test Concentration Plant will be ordered and delivered in three months as civil works proceed, with erection in two months for delivery including COD within five months – projected to be by September 2019. Below is a schematic of the test plant, which purpose is primarily to allow the Company to begin concentrating quickly, generating strong stable revenue, and to allow IMP to prove out its metallurgical strategy while not depending solely on third party processing.
IMP’s Bulk Concentrate Plant will be set on hill so that natural gravity can be used to move the Ore through crushing, into Milling, floatation, drying and bagging. The plant will be designed to separate Lead, Copper and Zinc. A flat surface plan for Beneficiation would require additional specialized pumps in order to move the material through the process, which pumps often break down, creating delays. Given that there are a number of hills near the mining zone between Site A and Site B (providing easy access to all currently explored veins with the exception of the South Area) the use of natural gravity is advantageous for operating efficiency, reliability and reduction of capital expense.
Below is an conceptual design submitted to IMP by Xinhai (with MCC) for what is a 40,000 metric ton of 25% metal content Ore per month Concentration Plant: