Pre-Feasibility Study - Closure & Rehabilitation

Under current proposals, the historic processing plant site at Veovaca will be demolished and redeveloped for a new processing plant which will be used to process ore from Rupice and then Veovaca. There are no current plans to use the historic TMF at Veovaca site. Instead, it is intended that the bulk of the tailings from the new plant will be dewatered and returned to Rupice to be repulped and disposed of underground as Paste Aggregate Fill (PAF).

Excess tailings will be disposed of in an area to the south of the plant site in a new co-disposal facility. The closure plan that has been developed is for the end of life of the planned operations at both Rupice and Veovaca and therefore the cost of the proposed demolition of the historic processing plant is not be included. It is assumed that such costs are part of the pre-production funding for both Rupice and Veovaca Mines.

At this stage, the after use of the two sites has not been decided but conceptual decisions have been made and this has been used to develop the methodology and cost, in particular those facilities which will be removed and those which should remain.

At Rupice, the planned closure will be a full closure of the operation and all its associated infrastructure including the filling and sealing of access drifts and ventilation raises, removal of plant and equipment and remediation of the site but leaving the main access road and electricity supply in place.

At Veovaca, the site will be remediated to a status suitable for other light manufacturing or fabrication uses but closure will include removal of the processing plant and equipment, closure of the Veovaca open pit and remediation of the waste co-disposal area to the south of the site.

Again, it is anticipated that the main access roads and electricity supply will remain for any light engineering or manufacturing works that may supersede the mines. There is a water supply requirement for the processing plant via a water dam which, it has been assumed will be required once mining has finished to support the development of light industry.

A template itemising the closure required at each mine has been developed and the total closure budget has been assessed at Rupice as $7.3M and Veovaca as $12.1M.