Name of the Project
Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) project.

Location
The project will be located in northern Queensland, in Australia.

Project Owner/s
Pure Minerals.

Project Description
The TECH project envisages the development of a 600 000 t/y laterite refinery to produce 26 398 t of nickel sulphate and 3 097 t of cobalt sulphate, as well as other valuable co-products such as hematite (327 665 wet tonnes a year), magnesia (20 079 t/y) and aluminium hydroxide (9 920 t/y).

According to the December 2019 prefeasibility study (PFS), ore will be imported under long-term supply agreements already negotiated with two New Caledonian mining companies and is expected to grade 1.6% nickel and 0.17% cobalt, which compares favourably with similar projects (operating and slated for development) in Australia.

For the first stage of processing, the imported laterite ore will use Direct Nickel Projects’ DNi process.

The DNi process uses nitric acid to dissolve and recover all saleable metals from ore.

For Stage 2 of processing, Pure Minerals has partnered with the CSIRO to produce nickel and cobalt sulphates from the mixed hydroxide precipitate produced through the DNi process.

Additional opportunities for further project improvement and optimisation have also been identified, including DNi process enhancement and the production of high-purity alumina (HPA) from the TECH project.

A recent scoping study on the production of HPA co-product from the TECH project, completed in February 2020, has projected production of 4 007 t/y of HPA using the 9 920 t/y aluminium hydroxide input feed source from the TECH project.

Using a conventional processing flowsheet, the aluminium hydroxide coproduct can be upgraded to produce a high value 4N (99.9%) HPA.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The TECH project has a pretax net present value of A$880-million and an internal rate of return of 25.7%. The HPA project has an estimated pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of A$1.2-billion and an internal rate of return of 113%.

Capital Expenditure
The TECH project is estimated at A$441-million, excluding a contingency of A$72-million.

The HPA project is estimated at A$87.9-million, excluding a contingency of A$26.4-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Lycopodium (PFS) and The Stimulus Group, with support from Boyd Willis Hyrdomet Consulting (scoping study).

Contact Details for Project Information
Pure Minerals, email info@pureminerals.com.au.