ASX-listed company OreCorp (ASX:ORR) has awarded early contractor involvement (ECI) contracts to Ausenco Services, and DRA Global (ASX:DRA) to design an engineering, procurement, and construction management work (EPCM) package for the Nyanzaga Gold Project in Tanzania.
Under early contractor involvement (ECI) contracts, the companies will review the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) process flowsheet to identify optimisation and cost reduction opportunities.
They will also include early engineering and design activities to enable the development of specifications, engineering plans, and schedules, which will include detailed cost, time, and resource requirements with each contractor delivering a detailed capital cost estimate, and executable EPCM contract.
OreCorp reports the ECI contracts are scheduled for completion in Q3 2023, and the company expects to award an EPCM contract to one of the contractors soon after. In parallel with the ECI contract strategy, the company says appointing dual contractors at the ECI stage will create a competitive environment for negotiating and incentivising the EPCM contract.
“The parallel ECI contract strategy enables us to engage with 2 experienced contractors in a competitive environment, which is expected to result in an optimal outcome for execution of the project”
Commenting on the contracts, OreCorp Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Henk Diederichs says: “Award of the ECI contracts is another significant step forward in the development of Nyanzaga, and the interest received from highly experienced contractors such as Ausenco and DRA is a testament to the quality of our project.
The parallel ECI contract strategy enables us to engage with 2 experienced contractors in a competitive environment, which is expected to result in an optimal outcome for execution of the project. We are pleased to have achieved another milestone and are looking forward to progressing the project further.”
OreCorp reports Ausenco and DRA have a long history in Tanzania and has recently been involved in several mining studies and projects in the country. The company says both contractors are ‘well experienced’, and notes it is confident that each will deliver a competitive capital cost estimate and EPCM contract for OreCorp to consider.
OreCorp is a Western Australian-based mining exploration company focused on its key project, the Nyanzaga Gold Project in northwest Tanzania. The project is located 30km southwest of Mwanza and comprises a special mining licence (SML) which covers an area of 23.4km-square that encompasses the Nyanzaga and Kilimani deposits.
The Tanzanian government currently holds a 16% free carried interest in OreCorp’s subsidiary Sotta Mining which holds the SML.
Images: OreCorp Ltd
