Pre-construction activities advancing at Berkeley Energia’s Salamanca mine
(firmenpresse) -
Pre-construction activities advancing at Berkeley Energias Salamanca mine
Berkeley Energia is pleased to announce that the pre-construction site based activities are advancing at its 100% owned Salamanca mine located in a historic mining region in western Spain.
Work on the ground in preparation for the commencement of construction has progressed well with over 600 hectares acquired or leased to date under the land acquisition programme and with only a few hectares remaining to be acquired.
The road deviation is advancing and the new road will be ready for use in the European summer. The equipment procurement for the electrical power line has been completed and the upgrade to the existing line will commence once the road construction is complete.
The crushing circuit, screens, feeders and ancillary equipment are currently being fabricated by established equipment suppliers, Sandvik in Finland and Vibramech in South Africa.
The Company has entered into a preliminary agreement with Asturiana de Zinc SAU, a Glencore company, to supply locally sourced reagent from 2018 to 2021 at a cost substantially below the one estimated in the Definitive Feasibility Study. These reagent costs represent approximately 30% of the overall process operating costs.
In addition, the Company has now received final proposals from a number of experienced and reputable mining contractors and has been pleased with the highly competitive nature of the bids received.
The Company is building a successful track record of cost optimisation, the order of the first major items for the crushing circuit, placed in December last year, was more than 20% below estimates from the Definitive Feasibility Study.
The Company will continue to pursue cost optimisation opportunities as it proceeds towards production to ensure that the Salamanca mine establishes itself at the bottom of the cost curve in terms of capital and operating costs once in production.
The Company holds itself to the highest standards and its commitment to environmental excellence is evidence of this. The Environmental License and the Environmental Measures Plan detail that the Company will plant 30,000 young oak trees, a six-fold increase on the number of older trees being cleared, greatly improving the ecological and agricultural value of the area.
This reforestation has now commenced following an agreement with the highly supportive local municipality of Vitigudino which details the arrangements for planting 20,000 young oak trees over a 50 hectare plot.
Commenting on the progress of the Salamanca mine, Managing Director Paul Atherley, stated:
Since our oversubscribed institutional fundraise late last year, we have been delivering on the site-based activities leading up to the main construction, which we expect will commence later in the year.
We now have over 50 staff and contractors on site and are continuing to take on more staff from those local people who have attended our skills training courses as construction commences.
Our continued operating and capital cost optimisation moves us closer to establishing Salamanca as a reliable low cost supplier to global utilities from the heart of the Europe Union.
Euratom has welcomed the security of supply Salamanca brings to the European Community which generates over 25% of its electricity from nuclear power.
The European nuclear trade body Foratom has described nuclear power as indispensable to the EU's aim to decarbonise the economy by more than 80% by 2050.
For further information please contact:
Paul Atherley-Hugo Schumann
Managing Director-Commercial Manager
+44 207 478 3900--
info(at)berkeleyenergia.com
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)-
Paul Shackleton-
Nick Prowting-
Jay Ashfield-
+44 20 7220 1666
Buchanan Communications Ltd.
Bobby Morse-Anna Michniewicz
Senior Partner-Account Director
+44 207 466 5000--
BKY(at)buchanan.uk.com
About Berkeley Energia:
Berkeley Energias objective is to be one of the worlds lowest cost producers reliably supplying the world's leading utilities with fuel for base load clean energy from the heart of the European Union. Once in production the mine will be one of the worlds biggest producers supplying over four million pounds of uranium concentrate a year, equivalent to approximately 10% of the continents total requirement.
An independent study published in July 2016 by MDM Engineering (part of AMEC Foster Wheeler Group) reported that the project has an NPV of over US$530 million and will produce 4.4 million pounds of uranium per annum at a cash costs of US$15.39 per pound, making it one of the world's lowest cost and a top ten global producer of uranium.
The mine will rejuvenate a community suffering from lack of investment and badly hit by long-term and high youth unemployment. Last year over 25,000 people left the Castilla y Leon region and in many villages houses stand empty.
Skills training programmes commenced last year and will continue throughout the construction phase to equip locals for the 454 jobs the mine will create once in full production. In addition, it has been estimated that over time the mine will indirectly generate an estimated further 2,295 jobs in the region. Local businesses are being prioritized and the local municipalities and communities will be fully supported throughout the life of the mine.
Spain currently is currently generating around 20% of its electricity from seven nuclear power plants and is aiming to meet its long term carbon reduction targets with a combination of a nuclear zero carbon base load and renewables.
Leseranfragen:
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Datum: 24.04.2017 - 13:10 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 537799
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Business News
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