Name and Location
Mt Windarra nickel mine recommissioning project, Australia.

Client
Poseidon Nickel.

Project Description
A definitive feasibility study (DFS) completed on Mt Windarra has demonstrated robust project viability through low-capital and mining costs.

The DFS includes the development of:
• the existing brownfield Mt Windarra underground mine;
• the start of nickel mining at the new Cerberus orebody, located on the same tenement package;
• the construction of a nickel flotation concentrator plant capable of a minimum throughput of 700 000 t/y of ore;
• the construction of a gold tailings retreatment facility; and
• the installation of an in-pit tailings deposition through a slurry pipeline to South Windarra.

The DFS proposes the parallel mining of the Mt Windarra brownfield orebody and the greenfield Cerberus orebody to supply feed to the concentrator over an initial ten-year period.

The plant will have about 30% more nameplate capacity than required for the proposed mine throughput of about 700 000 t/y to make it more flexible for the increased mining rates expected from further exploration activities.

In addition to the nickel ore, the project includes a 4.36-million-tonne gold tailings reserve in the north and south tailings dams, which will be reprocessed through a standard carbon-in-leach plant to be constructed adjacent to the nickel sulphide concentrator facility. The combined nickel and gold plant tailings will be pumped through a pipeline and deposited into the South Windarra pit, avoiding the need for surface tailings facilities and reducing the environmental footprint of the project.

The operation will produce 9 600 t/y of contained nickel in concentrate, at an average cost of $3.35/lb over an initial ten-year mine life, with the gold processing facility producing more than 45 000 oz of gold in the first three years.

Value
The total prestart capital for the project is estimated at $197-million, excluding nickel  tailings reprocessing, which is planned to start three years later.

Duration
Initial concentrate production is targeted for 2014.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Not stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Poseidon Nickel, tel +61 8 9382 8799, fax +61 8 9382 4760 or email admin@poseidon-nickel.com.au.