Name and Location
Panda Hill niobium project, Tanzania.

Client
Cradle Resources.

Project Description
The prefeasibility study (PFS) completed on the Panda Hill project has confirmed a world-class niobium resource with excellent metallurgical recoveries.

The base case for the PFS is premised on an openpit mining operation, providing two-million tonnes a year of mill feed over a 30-year life-of-mine.

This is the same scale of operation that was considered in the scoping study and approximates to 8% to 10% of world production.

For this reason, and to simplify financing arrangements, the definitive feasibility study (DFS) will be scoped to achieve a more modest entry into the market, starting with a throughput of one-million tonnes a year.

The DFS will allow for production expansion as demand grows.

In the early years of production, the successive pit cutbacks will target the high-grade Angel zone, with further expansion targeting the medium-grade, but high-recovery, fresh sovite mineralisation to the north.

As the Panda Hill mineralisation is a relatively clean material with low levels of impurities, particularly uranium, tantalum and titanium, and well-liberated mineralisation at coarse grind, a single-stage flotation method can be used to process the niobium ore.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a post-tax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $470-million and an internal rate of return of 56%, with a payback of 1.5 years.

Value
The capital required for a two-million-tonne-a-year plant is estimated at $158-million, excluding preproduction and working capital costs.

This includes a 13% overall contingency.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Work has started on the updated measured mineral resource for use in the DFS, with results expected in the second quarter of 2015.

Based on the results of the PFS, the DFS will consider the option of staging production so that, in the early years, a more capital efficient mining operation can be built that will target 5 000 t/y of ferroniobium – about 5% of world consumption.

The plant will then be expanded in subsequent years to achieve an increased production profile to meet growing demand from the ferroniobium market.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
SGS Canada (piloting of the milling and flotation circuit).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Cradle Resources, tel +61 8 9389 2000, fax +61 8 9389 2099 or email admin@cradleresources.com.au.