Name and Location
Pilgangoora lithium project, Australia.

Client
Altura Mining.

Project Description
The Pilgangoora project has a probable reserve of 18.47-million tonnes at 1.07% lithium oxide (Li₂O). A feasibility study completed on the project has shown outcomes superior to those of the mining study completed on the project.

The deposit will be extracted by openpit methods enhanced by the shallow and thick mineralisation, allowing spodumene ore to be mined from the start of mining.

The project aims to develop mining, processing, logistics and support infrastructure to start mining and processing of 1.4-million tonnes a year of ore to produce about 215 000 t of lithium spodumene concentrate. The life-of-mine is expected to be 14 years, based on Joint Ore Reserves Committee compliant indicated and inferred resources of 35.7-million tonnes.

Conventional bulk mining methods using hydraulic excavators, dump trucks and drill and blast, coupled to a run-of-mine (RoM) stockpile, will be used. Ore will be trucked directly from the blasted faces to the RoM stockpile and fed to the primary crusher using a front-end loader. Allowance has been made for blending from the RoM and external stockpiles.

The objective is to develop the Pilgangoora project on the basis of a concentrator plant producing spodumene concentrate at 6% Li2O from an average feed to a plant of between 1.15% Li₂O and 1.20% Li₂O. A 1.4-million-tonne-a-year process plant employing dense-media separation (DMS) and flotation technology was selected in the feasibility study. The plant will create a coarse and fine concentrate using industry standard separation techniques for hard-rock spodumene production from a pegmatite orebody.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value (NPV), at a 10% discount rate, of A$382-million, compared with the mining study, which estimated an NPV of A$277-million.

The project has an internal rate of return (IRR) of 59.5%, compared with the mining study, which estimated an IRR of 42.5%.

The project has a payback period of 1.7 years.

Value
The feasibility study has estimated a capital cost of A$129.3-million, compared with the mining study, which estimated a cost of A$97.6-million.

Duration
Mining is expected to start in the third quarter of 2017.

Latest Developments
Altura plans to further tighten the overall accuracy through the completion of a definitive feasibility study, which is expected to be delivered early in the third quarter of 2017. Significant potential exists to increase the current mineral resource of 35.7-million tonnes and ore reserve estimate by upgrading portions of the current inferred resources to convert to probable ore reserves and additional exploration drilling in previously untested areas of the tenements.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Altura Mining, tel +61 8 9488 5100, fax +61 8 9488 5199 or email info@alturamining.com.