Name of the Project
Vittangi graphite project.

Location
North Sweden.

Project Owner/s
Talga Resources.

Project Description
A prefeasibility study (PFS) on the Vittangi project has delivered outstanding project economics.

The PFS is based solely on the 1.9-million-tonne ore reserve grading 23.5% total graphitic carbon (TGC) as a portion of the current global indicated mineral resource estimate of the 10.7-million tonnes grading 25.7% graphitic carbon.

The PFS proposes a staged conventional openpit mining operation with on-site concentrator and coastal anode refinery to produce, at final design, about 19 000 t/y of Talnode-C.

The initial stage is designed as a low capital expenditure toll-processing operation over two years to feed the Stage 1 anode refinery for output of about 2 500 t/y Talnode-C before scaling it up to steady-state full-scale production in Stage 2.

The project has a mine life of two years.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.06-billion and an internal rate of return of 55%, with a rapid payback period of 1.5 years from the start of Stage 2 commissioning.

Capital Expenditure
Stage 1 capital expenditure is estimated at $27-million and Stage 2 $147-million, including a 20% contingency.

Planned Start/End Date
The start of Stage 1 is planned for mid-2020, with initial production scheduled for 2021.

Latest Developments
Talga plans to initiate the Stage 1 definitive feasibility study (DFS), aiming for completion by the first quarter of 2020. The company is continuing to progress all necessary project and permitting approvals while working on a range of funding initiatives with customers and potential strategic partners to take the project into production, targeting the start of Stage 1 in 2020.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Golder Associates (ore reserve and mine design); Core Resources (concentrator technology); Centre Terre et Pierre (purification process technology); Core Resources (process design and cost estimates); AF Consulting (infrastructure, construction planning and cost estimates); Recruit R&D and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (lithium-ion battery market demand and prices); GeoVista (landowner and tenements consultant); Nature & Environment (ecological consultant); Sweco Environment (hydrogeology and water chemistry consultant); Golder Associates (environmental-impact assessment); Swedish Geological (social economic consultant); Sweco Environment (Natura 2000 consultant); Bergskraft Bergslagen (water chemistry and geochemical characterisation); Jiri Herza (tailings consultant); Norrbottens Museum (archaeology consultant); Itasca and Golder Associates (geotechnical consultant); Mannheimer Swartling (environmental and legal permitting); Golder Associates (soil and moraine surveying); Christer Nordström (mining consultant); Graeme Campbell & Associates (geochemical analysis); and AF Consulting, Twenty-one eleven Consultants (logistics).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Talga Resources, tel +61 9 9481 6667 or email admin@talgaresources.com.