Tiger Resources Limited - Clarification of export sales arrangements

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PERTH, Western Australia, April 19, 2013 /CNW/ - Tiger Resources Limited (ASX/TSX:TGS, "Tiger") is pleased to provide clarification of its sales arrangements from the Kipoi Copper Project following media reports of a government ban on exports of copper and cobalt concentrates from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Tiger believes there will be no material impact on its operations or the continued sale of copper concentrate from Kipoi.

All copper concentrate produced at Kipoi is sold at the mine-gate under the terms of an off-take contract with Trafigura Beheer BV.

The copper concentrate is currently sold either to domestic customers in the DRC or exported to the Chambishi smelter in Zambia.

The percentage of copper concentrate sold by export in Q1 2013 was 17%.

Under existing market conditions local sales and export sales achieve very similar net revenues.

There is sufficient demand from local smelters in the DRC to accommodate all of the concentrate sales from Kipoi.

Currently, export sales of Kipoi concentrate are made under valid export permits executed by the Governor of Katanga and the Regional Minister of Mines.

The DRC Government is seeking to encourage miners to process and refine copper concentrates in- country to secure the value-add economic benefits of beneficiation and refining for the nation.

The Minister of Mines is aware of Tiger's current development of a solvent extraction electro-winning (SXEW) plant at Kipoi, which will result in production of a high value-added LME-grade copper cathode product from mid-2014.

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.

Tiger is undertaking a phased development at Kipoi, where the Stage 1 heavy media separation (HMS) plant is in production and is expected to process 2.7Mt of ore grading approximately 7% Cu to produce a total of 113,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate over its 39 month¹ life.

A feasibility study (FS) for a Stage 2 solvent-extraction electro-winning (SXEW) plant, targeted to come on stream in 2014, has confirmed the operation as a low cost, high margin project which can be commissioned after 16 months of development.  The FS ore reserves from the Kipoi Central, Kipoi North and Kileba deposits within the Kipoi Project area will be processed during the Stage 2 operations.

It is envisaged that ore from Judeira and other deposits within the Kipoi Project area, and within the nearby Lupoto Project, will also be processed during the Stage 2 operations, providing additional returns and increasing the mineral resources available as feedstock to the Stage 2 SXEW plant.  Increased resources will potentially increase the nine-year mine life demonstrated in the FS and/or annual plant throughput.

¹Stage 1 Kipoi Central HMS ore processed average recovery is estimated at 60%, as per the Kipoi HMS Feasibility Study

SOURCE Tiger Resources Limited