Infrastructure

Process Water Supply

All available water will be recovered from the tailings facilities and reused within the operation. Water balance modelling indicates that the make-up water demand for the Project will be 5.2 Mm3/y, or 14 000 m3/d, for the first four years and around 8 Mm3/y, or 22 000 m3/d thereafter.

The primary source for make-up water for the Project will be from a dam constructed on the Mukurumudzi River between the Central and South Dunes. This dam will have a capacity of 8.8 Mm3 and will be supplemented from the Gongoni borefield. The Gongoni borefield targets the Msambweni Aquifer and has been designed to be able to produce 2.0 Mm3.

The locations of the dam and the borefield with respect to the process plant are shown in the diagram below. Modelling has indicated that only during prolonged drought conditions will lack of water result in loss of production.

Power Supply

Power to the site will be supplied from the national grid via a 132 kV power line from the nearest substation at Galu, 14 km away. The average power demand over the first six years will be approximately 6 MW. This will increase as the ore pumping distance increases to peak at an average of about 13 MW in 2024.

Roads

A new 8 km paved site access road will be constructed, predominantly along existing road reserves, to connect the site to the existing A14 highway from Msambweni to Mombasa.

Port Facility

A port facility will be constructed at Likoni, 50 km north of the mine site along the A14 highway and on the southern side of the existing shipping channel servicing Mombasa Port. The site for the facility has been secured. This facility, the layout of which is shown below, will consist of:

• a storage shed capable of holding 45 000 t of ilmenite and 15 000 t of rutile;
• reclaim facilities;
• wharf facilities capable of handling up to 45 000 DWT vessels; and
• shiploading facilities.

Bulk ilmenite and rutile will be transported from the processing facility by truck and off-loaded in the storage shed where they will be stacked separately in preparation for shipping. The product will be reclaimed from the stockpiles by front end loaders and transferred by conveyor to one of the two shiploaders at 1,000 t/h.

Zircon and some rutile will be shipped in containers through the Kenya Port Authority container terminal on Mombasa Island.