Grande Côte Mineral Sands

This world class mineral sands project is located on a coastal mobile dune system starting about 80 km north-east of Dakar and extending northward for more than 100 km. The mineralised dune system averages about 2 km in width with some areas extending to up to 4.5 km wide. The project area is 445.7 km2. The main heavy mineral deposits are Diogo, Mboro, Fass Boye and Lompoul.

At the Grande Côte, the heavy mineral (“HM”) Mineral Resource estimate consists of an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1,330 million tones at 2% HM at a cut-off grade of 1.5% HM for the area above 6 metres below the estimated water table. Commencement of heavy mineral sands mining is targeted for mid-to-late 2009 for a 55 mtpa floating cutter suction dredge and concentration plant to produce approximately 90,000 tonnes of zircon annually, making it one of the larger zircon mines in the world. At the planned dredge throughput approximately 600,000 tonnes of ilmenite could also be produced.

This project will have a mine life of several decades and promises to produce strong cash flows for many years.