Terramin Australia Limited announced that Western Mediterranean Zinc Spa (WMZ) has signed an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with Sinosteel Equipment & Engineering Co. Ltd. (Sinosteel MECC) to build the Tala Hamza Zinc project.
WMZ, the owner of the Tala Hamza Zinc project, is a joint venture in which Terramin holds a 49pct stake, with the remaining 51pct owned by Algerian state companies ENOF (48.5pct) and ORGM (2.5pct).
The USD 336 mln EPC contract includes funding arrangements for the next 18 months, with construction expected to begin shortly. The contract covers the construction of a 2-mln-ton-per-year processing plant and underground mine, a backfill plant, dry stack tailing storage, water ponds, wastewater treatment, roadworks, electrical infrastructure, workshops, offices, labs, and security fencing within the mining permit.
The Tala Hamza deposit contains 53 mln tons of ore at 5.3pct zinc and 1.3pct lead (2.5pct zinc equivalent cut-off grade). According to a 2018 feasibility study, the project will produce an annual average of 129,300 tons of zinc concentrate and 26,000 tons of lead concentrate over a 21-year mine life, with peak production reaching 153,000 tons of zinc and 36,000 tons of lead from an annual average of 1.32 mln tons of ore.
