VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tango Mining Limited (“Tango” or the “Company”) (TSXV:TGV) is pleased to provide a 2018 financial year end operational and production update on its diamond and coal project portfolio located in the Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Angola and recently added Liberia.
DIAMONDS – Oena, Republic of South Africa
Tango – Mining and Processing Contractor
At the Oena Diamond Mine located in the Western Cape, appointed mining contractor, Bluedust 7 Proprietary Limited (“Bluedust”) has mobilized and commissioned mining and processing equipment commencing 16 November 2017.
Bluedust successfully recommenced production and recovered a total of 941 carats since January 2018 and have recently focussed their production on ROM material. Mining has primarily focused on what is known as the Oena Site and will shortly commence on the Blokwerf Site where Bluedust is currently mobilizing equipment. The following table provides a detailed breakdown of work on site since January 2018.
Oena continues to produce very high value diamonds including a 42.26 carat diamond recently that was sold for US$11,267 per carat. Bluedust currently has 36 employees on site.
| OENA MINE | Jan-Feb | Feb-Mar | Mar-Apr | Apr-May | May-Jun | Jun-Jul | Jul-Aug | Total | |
| Mining Block | Palio Channel | Pothole & Rooikoppie | Pothole & Rooikoppie & Oena Oos | Pothole & Pothole Oena Oos & Rooikoppie & Oena Oos Quarry | Pothole & Firestone Tailings & Oena Oos Quarry & Rooikoppie | D/Barker Pothole & Oena Central & Oena Soccer Field | Oena Central Soccer Field | ||
| Stripping | Tons | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Run of Mine (ROM) | Tons | 14,940 | 23,700 | 32,190 | 25,590 | 32,130 | 37,020 | 41,610 | 207,180 |
| Total Mined | Tons | 14,940 | 23,700 | 32,190 | 25,590 | 32,130 | 37,020 | 41,610 | 207,180 |
| Recovery Pan Tailings and Bantams | |||||||||
| Total Carats | Crt | 52.05 | 36.65 | 10.80 | 1.27 | 0.65 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 101.42 |
| Stones | St | 38 | 29 | 13 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 84 |
| Average Stone Size | Crt/St | 1.37 | 1.26 | 0.83 | 0.64 | 0.33 | 1.21 | ||
| Recovery Run of Mine (ROM) | |||||||||
| Total Carats | Crt | 53.65 | 119.50 | 134.81 | 71.60 | 152.14 | 168.08 | 140.17 | 839.95 |
| Stones | St | 38 | 77 | 120 | 60 | 93 | 83 | 76 | 547 |
| Average Stone Size | Crt/St | 1.41 | 1.55 | 1.12 | 1.19 | 1.64 | 2.03 | 1.84 | 1.54 |
| Bluedust Equipment – Oena Site | Bluedust Equipment – Blokwerf Site |
| 16 ft pan with headfeed bin 16 ft pan with headfeed bin 14 ft pan with headfeed bin BVX sorting unit Complete sorthouse with tailings belt 225 Kva Plant supply generator Main water pump generator 60-ton Volvo excavator 46-ton Volvo excavator 25-ton Bell excavator 3 x 30-ton Volvo ADT dump trucks 2 x 30-ton Bell ADT dump trucks 3 x 958 Foton frond end loaders 2 x Infield power screens | 16 ft pan with headfeed bin Dewatering screen Desanding screen with product belt 250 tph infield barrel screen 175 Kva Generator |
Tango - African Star Minerals (“ASM”)
During the course of the year, Tango through its local subsidiary, ASM, acquired an additional pan plant (the “Plant”) with a 120 tonne per hour (“tph”) capacity to be used to process Tailings left on site from previous mining operations. The Plant began commissioning in June 2018 and is ready to begin processing material. Start of production has been delayed due to the 260 KVA diesel generators that was purchased and has had to be replaced, delaying commissioning of the operation. New piping and water pipe were also purchased and are onsite and ready to be installed. A mobile screening unit and earth moving equipment will be mobilized to site to support the Plant operations and this is anticipated to occur prior to the end of 2018. ASM currently has 8 employees on site.
| ASM Equipment – Oena Site | |
| Double 16 ft pan Headfeed bin with belt Desanding screen Desanding belt Pan feed belt Dewatering screen Tailings belt with tailings bin Vertical spindle puddle pumps | 260 Kva Generator complete in container 97000 L Water dam Water pump from dam to pans 22kw Main water supply pump 1.3 km water supply pipeline Complete Grease recovery (Pre-Build) 8 x Concentrate bins |
Important Notice: The Company will no longer publish monthly Oena diamond sales information and will publish quarterly sales information moving forward.
DIAMONDS – Middlepits Project, Republic of Botswana
The Middlepits Project is located 470 kilometers (km) south west of Gaborone and 90 km south west of Tshabong in the Kgalagadi District, Botswana and consists of two Prospecting Licenses (“PLs”) that were explored between 1974 and 1976 by De Beers, between 1978 and 1980 by Falconbridge and between 1993 and 1997 by Southern Africa Minerals Corporation.
Metswedi Mining (Pty) Limited has advised Tango that it is still in the process of renewal of PL101 (429 km2) and PL58 (2.3 km2). Closing of the transaction is subject to the renewal of the PLs and Tango has not completed any work on the property to date given the PLs have not been renewed as of today’s date.
DIAMONDS – Moquita Project, Republic of Angola
Tango has signed a Services Agreement for Mining and Marketing of Diamonds with Cooperativa Mineira Do Moquita, SCRL (“Moquita”) on a 147 km2 portion of a concession located 50 km north of Lucapa within the Lauchimo River basin, Province of Lunda Norte, Republic of Angola. Tango is responsible for capital expenditures associated with alluvial diamond mine design and equipment acquisition as well as enhancing production. As remuneration, Tango will receive 60% of the proceeds from the sale of produced diamonds.
Tango has created a strategic funding partnership with CC Mining Limited (“CCML”), a member of Consolidated Contractors Company Group which is one of the world’s largest diversified international engineering and construction companies active in over 50 countries and across five continents and with total revenue in 2017 of US$6 billion. This funding and technical partnership has initially focussed on funding the Services Agreement with Moquita.
DIAMONDS – Mano River Project, Republic of Liberia
Tango has signed an acquisition agreement to acquire an 80% unencumbered interest in the Mano River Project consisting of one recently granted 104.3 km2 diamond mineral exploration license located in the western part of Republic of Liberia. This portion of Liberia is well known for the wide spread occurrence of alluvial diamonds and the known presence of kimberlites.
COAL – Metallurgical and Mining Projects, Republic of South Africa
Tango currently has 254 employees in its coal business, working on behalf of three engineering contracts the Company has with Exxaro Coal Central (ECC) Propriety Limited`s thermal coal, metallurgical and processing plants. These three processing plants currently process a combined 6.5 million tonnes per annum (“tpa”) at the Dorstfontein West, Dorstfontein East and Forzando mines located 120 km east of Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa. The three contracts were awarded in 2017 and are subject to renegotiation and renewal in June 2020.
The Company continues to evaluate a number of opportunities to expand this part of its business.
Health, Safety and Environmental:
No reportable incidents recorded on ECC Operations for the 4th quarter.
Production:
Three months June 2018 to August 2018 ROM and Discard throughput for the three ECC operations:
| Actual (t) | Budget (t) | Variance (t) | Comments | |
| Dorstfontein East | 622 310 | 695 282 | -72 972 | Coal supply issues from Opencast Pit |
| Dorstfontein West | 272 902 | 271 452 | 1 450 | |
| Forzando | 846 604 | 854 977 | -8 373 | Coal supply issues from Underground Mining |
Twelve months September 2017 to August 2018 ROM and Discard throughput for the three ECC operations:
| Actual (t) | Budget (t) | Variance (t) | Comments | |
| Dorstfontein East | 2 385 659 | 2 679 722 | -294 063 | Coal supply issues from Opencast Pit |
| Dorstfontein West | 1 082 800 | 1 031 433 | 51 367 | |
| Forzando | 3 324 199 | 3 370 020 | -45 821 | Coal supply issues from Underground Mining |
| Total | 6 792 658 | 7 081 175 | -288 517 | |
Recognitions in the past three months:
Following ISO and OHSAS surveillance audits the operations were credited with the following:
- Successful transition to ISO 14001: 2015 and retaining of certification.
- Retaining of OHSAS 18001:2001 certification.
Safety Awards:
- Dorstfontein East achieved 36 months lost time injury free.
- Dorstfontein East achieved 7 000 fatality free shifts.
- Dorstfontein West achieved 6 months lost time injury free.
- Forzando achieved 30 months lost time injury free.
- Forzando achieved 20 000 fatality free shifts.
On behalf of the Tango Board of Directors
Mr. Samer Khalaf
Chief Executive Officer
Tango Mining Limited
info@tangomining.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statement
Certain information set forth in this news release contains “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking information” under applicable securities laws. Except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements, which include management’s assessment of future plans and operations and are based on current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs, which may prove to be incorrect. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “forecasts”, estimates”, “expects” “anticipates”, “believes”, “projects”, “plans”, “outlook”, “capacity” and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them.
Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company’s actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to statements with respect to the estimation of mineral resources; the realization of mineral resource estimates; anticipated future production, capital and operating costs; cash flows and mine life; potential size of a mineralized zone; potential expansion of mineralization; potential types of mining operations; permitting timelines; government regulation of exploration and mining operations; risks that the presence of diamond deposits mentioned nearby the Company’s property are not indicative of the diamond mineralization on the Company’s property, the supply and demand for, deliveries of and the level and volatility of prices of rough diamonds, risks that the actual revenues will be less than projected; risks that the target production for the existing mining contracts will be less than projected or expected; risks that production will not commence as projected due to delay or inability to receive governmental approval of the Company’s acquisition or the timely completion of an NI43-101 report; technical problems; inability of management to secure sales or third party purchase contracts; currency and interest rate fluctuations; foreign exchange fluctuations and foreign operations; mineral title; various events which could disrupt operations, including labour stoppages and severe weather conditions; and management’s ability to anticipate and manage the foregoing factors and risks.
The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are based on certain assumptions regarding, among other things, future prices for coal and diamonds; future currency and exchange rates; the Company’s ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations and access capital markets to meet its future obligations; coal consumption levels; and the Company’s ability to retain qualified staff and equipment in a cost-efficient manner to meet its demand. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this news release unless required by law. The statements as to the Company’s capacity to achieve revenue are no assurance that it will achieve these levels of revenue.
The technical disclosure in this news release has been approved by Terry L. Tucker, P.Geo., Executive Chairman of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators.