Tiger Resources Limited - 1 million hours lost time injury free

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• Commendable safety achievement of 1 million man-hours free of lost time injury
  
  
• April 2012 production of 3,066 tonnes of copper in concentrate, exceeds nameplate capacity

ASX Code: TGS
TSX Code: TGS

PERTH, Western Australia, May 10, 2012 /CNW/ - Tiger Resources Limited (ASX/TSX:TGS, "Tiger") is pleased to advise that its operations team at the Kipoi Copper Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has achieved an impressive safety milestone, having recorded 1,000,000 man-hours free of lost time injury (LTI).

Since the commencement of production at Tiger's flagship operation in the Katanga province of the DRC in April last year, the management team has ensured that site safety is of a world-class standard.

This LTI free record surpasses the record of 970,000 LTI free hours achieved during the construction and development phase of the project.

Tiger's Managing Director, Brad Marwood, said: "The record is commendable, especially considering that the Kipoi Copper Project is a new mine and is Tiger's first development."

Production at Kipoi for April 2012 was 3,066 tonnes of copper in concentrate, following on from the March production record of 3,508 tonnes.

Mr Marwood commented: "We are very pleased that production levels have now exceeded the plant nameplate capacity for two consecutive months. It is pleasing that this has been achieved through our team at Kipoi operating with due consideration for safety and environmental concerns."

Background

The Kipoi Project covers an area of 55 square km and is located 75km north‐north‐west of the city of Lubumbashi in the Katanga Province of the DRC. The project contains a 12km sequence of mineralised Roan sediments that host at least five known deposits: Kipoi Central, Kipoi North, Kileba, Judeira and Kaminafitwe.

The Company has reported JORC-compliant resources at three of the deposits: Kipoi Central, Kipoi North and Kileba. The principal deposit is Kipoi Central, which contains a zone of high grade copper mineralisation within a much larger, lower grade global resource.

The Company has adopted a staged development approach at the Kipoi Project. The high grade zone of mineralisation at Kipoi Central is being exploited during the Stage 1 development. During the three-year operation of Stage 1, 900,000tpa of 7% Cu is planned to be processed through the HMS plant with a recovery rate of 55%, to produce the equivalent of approximately 35,000tpa of payable copper.

The Company is currently undertaking a feasibility study to evaluate the economic viability of constructing a SXEW plant (Stage 2), targeted to come on-stream by April 2014. It is envisaged that ore from Kipoi Central, Kipoi North and Kileba South and the other deposits within the Kipoi Project and within the nearby Lupoto Project would be processed during the Stage 2 phase.

The northern boundary of the Lupoto Project is located approximately 10km to the south of the Kipoi Project and the project area can be accessed by a road that leads directly to Kipoi. The Company holds a 100% interest in the Lupoto Permit (PR2214) and Aurum Sprl has the right to a 1% NSR from any production on the permit.

The Sase deposit is situated within the Lupoto Project in an area of intersecting splay structures associated with a major project-scale fault system, the Sase fault zone. Fault breccias related to the fault systems represent important exploration targets.  Several analogous geological settings have been identified in other parts of the Lupoto Project area. Mineralisation at Sase is hosted in intensely brecciated sedimentary rocks, mainly carbonaceous siltstones, shales and dolomites of the lower Kundelungu group. These stratigraphic units are known to host one of the world's largest Pb-Zn-Cu deposits at Kipushi, 50km west of Lubumbashi.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements: The forward-looking statements made in this news release are based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events and results. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future mining, processing and development activities, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's filed documents.

The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Mr. Brad Marwood, who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

Mr Marwood has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr Marwood consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

For further information in respect of the Company's activities, please contact:

Brad Marwood
Managing Director
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Stephen Hills
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Nathan Ryan
Investor Relations
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected] 

Company website: www.tigerresources.com.au