Name and Location
Mount Peake vanadium/titanium/iron project, Northern Territory, Australia.

Client
TNG.

Project Description
Mount Peake comprises a large strategic measured, indicated and inferred resource of about 160-million tonnes of magnetite-hosted vanadium, titanium and iron.

The prefeasibility study envisages the construction of a processing plant, with an initial capacity of 2.5-million tonnes a year, increasing to five-million tonnes a year.

Leaching, followed by selective iron and vanadium recovery using the TIVAN process, will be employed.

The proposed plant will comprise eight major processing areas – crushing, grinding and beneficiation, leaching, titanium beneficiation, solvent extraction, acid regeneration, tailings disposal and vanadium precipitation.

Total metal production is estimated at 245 000 t of vanadium, 20.3-million tonnes of iron and 6.5-million tonnes of titanium.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
The total cost of the project is estimated at A$715-million, including A$563-million for the initial 2.5-million-tonne-a-year plant and A$122-million for the expansion to five-million tonnes a year.

Duration
TNG aims to start construction in 2014, with production and exports proposed to start in 2015.

Latest Developments
TNG has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with renewable-energy group Energy Made Clean (EMC) to evaluate and implement energy supply options for its Mount Peake vanadium project, including the potential supply of a solar power system to the project.

The MoU complements the company’s existing relationship with a global battery manufacturer and potentially paved the way for the design and installation of a fully integrated, state-of-the-art solar power system and vanadium redox battery power storage system at the Mount Peake mine site.

TNG announced an MoU with a vanadium battery manufacturer in May for the potential supply of a vanadium redox battery for the project.

The solar power and vanadium redox battery power storage system has the potential to make a significant contribution to reducing TNG’s overall power costs at the project while putting TNG and Mount Peake at the forefront of renewable-energy use in the resource sector.

TNG is in the final stages of its advanced feasibility study for the Mount Peake project, which will potentially be a world-class, long-life strategic metals project producing high-purity vanadium pentoxide, iron oxide and titanium dioxide.

The company has stated that the feasibility study will be completed in the next few weeks, with the results expected to be announced this month.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Arccon Mining Services (DFS) and GHD (environmental-impact study).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
TNG, tel +61 8 9327 0900, fax +61 8 9327 0901 email corporate@tngltd.com.au.
Arccon Mining Services, tel +61 8 9340 6100, fax +61 8 9340 6150 or email mining@arccon.com.au.