The US Ambassador Meg Whitman and Australian High Commissioner Luke Williams are in Kwale County for the mine site visit.
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00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:10 >> [LAUGH]
00:14 >> Look at the work he's initiated.
00:17 >> Okay.
00:18 >> Kuala Mineral Sands Mining Project here in Kuala County.
00:22 Today we have the great honor and
00:24 privilege of hosting members of the Nauru diplomatic community.
00:28 Her Excellency, the Ambassador of the United States, and
00:32 His Excellency, the High Commissioner from Australia, have paid us a visit today.
00:37 To come and see our operations, see the work we're doing,
00:40 our mining operations, our mineral production.
00:43 And of course, to have a look at and see for
00:45 themselves the rehabilitation we're doing in previously mined out areas.
00:50 It's been a wonderful visit.
00:52 I think it's a testament.
00:54 We thank them dearly and greatly for the time they've offered for us today to come
00:59 and see us.
01:00 And I think it's a testament to sort of BASE's reputation and
01:03 the work we're doing here that we were able to host this visit.
01:07 To be clear, we have no mining extension requests in at the moment.
01:12 BASE is currently mining.
01:14 I think it's common knowledge that as we currently stand here today,
01:17 mining operations will cease at the back end of 2024, November, December-ish.
01:22 And that we're currently undertaking exploration work in an area called
01:25 Kwale East to see if we can identify new minerals to mine that will allow us to
01:29 extend the mine life beyond December 2024.
01:32 At this stage, that exploration work is continuing.
01:36 Overwhelming support from the local community and
01:40 the leadership of Kwale to undertake that exploration.
01:43 And we're still a number of weeks, if not months,
01:46 away from determining whether exploration will lead to mine life extension.
01:51 Yeah, it's a really good question.
01:52 The focus as we head to the back end of 2024 at the moment is clearly to ensure
01:57 that rehabilitation is carried out to absolute world best standards.
02:03 And we're very proud of the exploration work or
02:05 the rehabilitation work we're doing at the moment.
02:07 Some parts of the previously mined out areas you would go and see and
02:12 you would not believe if someone told you it used to be a mine site.
02:15 We're also shifting our focus and tension towards mine closure planning and
02:20 the like in the event that closure happens at the back end of next year.
02:24 This is a important process.
02:27 It's exceptionally important to ensure that we execute on mine closure
02:33 with a degree of excellence in the same way we have done the construction and
02:38 commissioning of this project and the operations of this project to really
02:41 complete a full mine life cycle to the highest standards possible.
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