Name of the Project
Vittangi graphite project.

Location
North Sweden.

Project Owner/s
Talga Resources.

Project Description
A prefeasibility study (PFS) 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 an on-site concentrator and a 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 pre-tax 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 at $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
A recent decision by the Swedish Geological Survey (SGU) has declared the Vittangi as a mineral deposit of national interest.

This designation adds support to consider the exploitation of Vittangi as a mineral deposit when government authorities review development plans and any potential competing land uses.

Under the Swedish Environmental Code, deposits of valuable substances or materials can be defined as being of national interest, meaning municipalities and central government agencies may not authorise activities that might prevent or significantly hinder exploitation of the mineral deposit.

The national interest area covers the entire, currently defined Vittangi graphite resources, and undrilled extensional deposits.

The SGU has also noted the Vittangi graphite deposit's significance to the country's supply capacity, its special material properties and that the deposit constitutes a unique natural asset of valuable substances or materials.

SGU believes that locally produced graphite could help strengthen the competitiveness of the Swedish battery manufacturing industry and that, as the known highest-grade graphite deposit in the world, Vittangi could “meet a great need, not only within Sweden but also internationally”.

The decision has considered the European Commission’s listing of graphite as a critical raw material and its warning that a lack of access to such critical commodities could slow the development of fossil-free energy sources.

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.