Name and Location
Owendale scandium project, central New South Wales, Australia.

Client
Platina Resources.

Project Description
A scoping study on the Owendale project supports the economic and technical viability of the project and includes the development of capital and operating cost estimates to about a 50% accuracy for a suitable processing facility.

The project hosts a total mineral resource of 25.9-million tonnes of scandium grading 380 parts per million (ppm) at a cutoff of 300 ppm, and contains a total in situ content of 15 100 t of scandium oxide.

The base case for the project is a simple, openpit mining operation that will mine about 50 000 t/y of ore for treatment and concentration on site to produce 30 t of scandium oxide at 99.9% purity.

Mining is expected to take place two to three times a year in small campaigns from shallow openpits.

The mining concept will involve conventional truck and shovel opencut mining, most likely located on a shallow, high-grade starter pit. Batch high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) autoclaves are required to produce the initial 30 t of scandium oxide.

The Owendale project gained significant impetus in January this year when it was identified that more than 90% of the accompanying platinum mineralisation in the Owendale ore was extracted using the HPAL processing technique. As a result, the project has the potential to become Australia’s first scandium producer with platinum credits.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
Capital costs are estimated at A$73.5-million.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Platina has started environmental studies, which form a major component of a feasibility study for the project. Environmental base line monitoring programmes and conceptual design documentation for initial stakeholder engagement are part of the new work programme for the feasibility study, which will also include technical, processing and marketing studies on Owendale.

Platina expects a full environmental impact statement and a mining lease application for the project to be completed within 12 months.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
SNC Lavalin (scoping study and mineral resource update), RW Corkery & Co (environmental studies).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Platina Resources, tel +61 7 5580 9094, fax +617 5580 9394 or email admin@platinaresources.com.au.