Sirius scoping study proves Nova's mettle
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Nickel explorer Sirius Resources’ Nova-Bollinger project, in Western Australia, has the potential to be a "company-making asset", a scoping study has found.
At a capital cost of A$471-million, the project could produce 28 000 t/y of nickel and 11 000 t/y of copper in concentrate, over an initial mine life of ten years.
The ore will be processed through a 1.5-million-tonne-a-year processing plant, that will include conventional crushing and milling circuits followed by a two-stage conventional flotation plus dewatering and filtration processes.
First concentrate production is scheduled for mid-2016, and depending on the nickel price, the Nova-Bollinger project could deliver revenue of up to A$4.6-billion over ten years.
The project is expected to generate an average net cash flow of some A$350-million a year, once steady-state production is reached, based on a nickel price of $10/lb and a copper price of $3.30/lb.
“The release of the scoping study is an important milestone for our company. It confirms the exceptional quality of the Nova-Bollinger deposit and demonstrates the likelihood that Sirius will become a significant Australian and world-scale nickel producer with operating costs in the lowest 20% of nickel production globally,” said Sirius MD Mark Bennett.
C1 cash operating costs for the project are estimated at A$1.75/lb nickel in concentrate.
Bennett noted that the scoping study highlighted the base case production scenario, with scope to improve the project economics through further exploration.
Sirius will now progress with its definitive feasibility study (DFS), and would look to further improve the project’s economics by optimising proposed operations. The DFS is scheduled for completion by the second quarter of next year.
Baseline environmental surveys and studies are also under way, and approval submissions are scheduled to be made in the second quarter of 2014.
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