Name of the Project
Ta Khoa refinery (TKR) project.

Location
Northern Vietnam.

Project Owner/s
Blackstone Minerals.

Project Description
A downstream prefeasibility study (PFS) has confirmed a technically and economically robust hydrometallurgical refining process to upgrade nickel sulphide concentrate to produce the battery-grade NCM 811 precursor – the technical name for a mixed hydroxide precipitate with nickel, cobalt and manganese hydroxides present in a ratio of 8:1:1.

The PFS considers a refinery design to process up to 400 000 t/y of nickel concentrate in the base case through two pressure oxidation (POX) autoclaves (one POX autoclave hereafter referred to as one train).

Average yearly NCM 811 precursor production is estimated at 85 600 t, with refined nickel output estimated at 43 500 t/y.

An estimated 435 000 t of nickel, 11 000 t of cobalt, 51 000 t of manganese and 315 000 t of hydroxide is expected to be recovered in NCM 811 precursor product, in addition to 44 000 t of cobalt make-up quantities.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a post-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, $2.01-billion and an internal rate of return of 67%, with a payback from first production of 1.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project is estimated $491-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Blackstone has started funding discussions with several potential partners, including NCM 811 consumers and concentrate suppliers to jointly participate in the funding of the proposed refinery.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
ALS (upstream metallurgical testwork and sample preparation); Ban Phuc Nickel Mines (Vietnamese salary expectations, local contractor pricing and consumables rates, and project permitting planning); Blackstone Minerals (strategic planning, operational readiness and implementation planning); ERM (environmental baseline study planning and recommendations); Fremantle Metallurgy (all dynamic thickening testwork for solid liquid separation); Optimize Group (project infrastructure design, implemen­tation planning); Simulus Engineers (refinery process design and plant engineering, capital and operating expenditures estimations, project development schedule, risk assessment); Simulus Laboratories (refinery metallurgy test­work); and Trafigura (provision of third-party feed samples).

Contact Details for Project Information
Blackstone Minerals, tel +61 8 9425 5217 or email admin@blackstoneminerals.com.au.