News

June 25, 2009

Mount Burgess Mining Is Poised To Take Advantage Of Any Upturn In The Zinc Price

By Rob Davies

Nigel Forrester, chairman and managing director of Mount Burgess Mining, does not believe in spin. He tells his company’s story straight, without any embellishment, and gives you the facts as they are. At current metal prices he says the company’s Kihabe zinc property in Botswana is not economic. A resource of 27.4 million tonnes at a grade of 2.32% zinc is simply too small and too low grade to make any money.

To make it commercial it needs more tonnes, higher grade and a higher zinc price. For any mine to be viable it needs a life of at least ten years, says Mr Forrester, and that simply means tonnes.  Even with good tonnage you still need a reasonable grade to get the cash flow.  On that score, Mr Forrester thinks that there may be scope to increase tonnage at both the Kihabe and nearby Nxuu deposits that combine to make up the project. There is also a copper geo-chemical anomaly just 15...