Name of the Project
Poochera halloysite/kaolin project.

Location
The project is located on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia.

Project Owner/s
Andromeda Metals.

Project Description
An updated scoping study to consider wet processing at the project site has delivered further significant improvement to the project economics. The initial scoping study considered dry processing of the Poochera ore.

The study is based on a total mineral resource of 9.7-million tonnes.

The study has concluded that wet processing at site provides improved kaolin recoveries over dry processing, leading to additional revenues and lower costs per unit sold.

The prime advantages of wet processing over dry processing identified at the site are improved recoveries of refined kaolin clay material made available for sale, and higher revenues, in addition to providing lower processing costs, owing to the operating efficiencies of the wet-processing plant.

The advantages are partially offset by increased transport and shipping costs and a modest increase in capital costs for the plant.

Envisaged is the development of a shallow opencut mine, comprising two shallow openpits at the Casey’s Well deposit, producing kaolinised granite at 500 000 t/y, or 7.6-million tonnes over the 15-year life-of-mine (LoM), which, after processing and refining, yields 2.8-million tonnes of premium product.

Yearly refined kaolin produced over the 15-year LoM has increased from 187 000 t/y in the initial scoping study to 227 000 t/y in the updated scoping study, with the yield of the refined kaolin increasing from 37% to 45%.

Potential Job Creation
The project is expected to have a workforce of 30 to 40 people that will reside locally or at Streaky Bay.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value (NPV), at an 8% discount rate, of A$544-million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 175%, with a payback of 15 months. In the initial scoping study, the NPV was estimated at A$413-millon and the IRR at 174%.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital is estimated at A$13-million, with a maximum cash requirement of A$29-million before initial revenues being received. In the initial scoping study pre­pro­duction capital was estimated at A$9-million.

Planned Start/End Date
The expected timeline for the project devel­opment is to complete a prefeasibility study by the second quarter of 2020, and to then conduct environmental-impact assessments and prepare a mining proposal application over the balance of the 2020 calendar year.

Subject to satisfactory progress in terms of negotiating agreements with key stakeholders, obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals and the completion of a subsequent definitive feasibility study, the start of operations is tar­geted for late 2021.

Andromeda has noted that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is immeasurable and is likely to affect global and local business access and, therefore, influence these targets.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
H&SC Consultants (resource estimation); Golder Associates (mine geotechnical review); Groundwater Science (hydrogeology review); Andromeda employee Mark Pitt (mine design and schedule); Bureau Veritas (metallurgical testing); CSIRO (halloysite testing); RSG and Scott Dryers (dry-process pilot tests); CPC Project Design (dry-process plant design); Ginn Materials Technology and Grinding Solutions Cornwall (wet-process metallurgy); Cultivise (transport and logistics); Qube Logistics (transport and port logistics); Asiaworld Shipping Services (shipping); Ian Wilson Consultancy and First Test Minerals (market study); Inside Infrastructure (water supply); Rural Solutions (preliminary flora survey); Envirocom (environmental, community and permitting); and MinEcoTech (mineral technology and project management).

Contact Details for Project Information
Andromeda Metals, tel +61 8 8271 0600 or email admin@andromet.com.au.