Name of the Project
Pilgangoora lithium/tantalum project.

Location
Western Australia.

Client
Pilbara Minerals.

Project Description
Pilbara has endorsed the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the base case two-million-tonne-a-year development of the Pilgangoora project.

The Stage 1 DFS proposes a mining method based on conventional openpit mining, and has been evaluated for truck and hydraulic excavator (backhoe) operations using 4 m  2.5 m flitches for 10 m benches for combination pegmatite mining, and 10 m bench mining for waste mining.

The concentrator plant has been designed to process two-million tonnes a year of ore feed. The nominal capacity of the concentrator has been estimated at 270 t/h.

The flowsheet has been designed to process two-million tonnes a year of ore feed – chemical-grade spodumene at 6% lithium oxide (LiO₂) and medium iron; and tantalite concentrate at 30% tantalum pentoxide (Ta₂O₅) prefinal dressing.

The concentrator comprises crushing, feed preparation, dense-media separation, gravity separation, grinding, flotation, magnetic separation and dewatering. Wet magnetic separation has been included in the flotation process to reduce iron in the chemical and future technical-grade product.

The Pilgangoora project is expected to produce an average of 314 000 t/y of 6% spodumene concentrate and 321 000 lb/y of tantalite over a mine life of 36 years.

As a result of the significant increase in the Pilgangoora resource and reserve base, Pilbara is working towards delivering a definitive feasibility study on the Stage 2 expansion to five-million tonnes a year by mid-2018.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a post-tax net present value (NPV), at a 10% discount rate, of A$709-million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 38.1%, with a payback of 2.72 years.

The proposed expansion project has an NPV of A$1.17-billion and an IRR of 46.3%, with a payback of 3.05 years.

Value
A$234-million.

Duration
Construction is expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year and commissioning from late 2017.

Latest Developments
Pilbara Minerals is considering increasing the output at its Pilgangoora lithium/tantalum project after a 15% increase in the total proved and probable ore reserve.

The ore reserve is estimated at 80.3-million tonnes, grading 1.27% LiO₂, or 123 parts per million Ta₂O₅, and 10.8% iron oxide.

The expanded ore reserve follows the completion of drilling since the definitive feasibility study in September 2016, and is based on the upgraded mineral resource of 156.3-million tonnes, grading 1.25% lithium oxide for an estimated 1.95-million tonnes of lithium oxide.

Studies are under way to evaluate increasing production capacity to five-million tonnes a year, rather than four-million tonnes a year, once operations at Pilgangoora have started at the initial targeted production rate of two-million tonne a year.

“This impressive result well and truly sets the scene for our Stage 2 expansion, and allows us to consider an increased production rate of five-million tonnes a year,” Pilbara MD Ken Brinsden has said.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
RCR Tomlinson (EPC) and OTOC Australia (300-room camp relocation package and the re-establishment works).

On Budget and on Time?
The company has reported that the Pilgangoora project will cost about A$234-million to develop, compared with the original capital cost of A$224-million. The project is on track for commissioning later this year.

Contact Details for Project Information
Pilbara Minerals, tel +61 8 9336 6267 or fax +61 8 9433 5121.