Name of the Project
West Musgrave Project (WMP).

Location
The WMP is a significant greenfield copper and nickel project, located in the remote, highly prospective West Musgrave mineral province of central Western Australia.

Project Owner/s
OZ Minerals.

Project Description
An updated prefeasibility study (PFS) on the WMP Nebo and Babel deposits has incorporated strategic and technical updates, resulting in an improvement to key project metrics relative to the PFS released in February 2020, including an increase to the processing plant throughput rate from 10-million tonnes a year to 12-million tonnes a year.

The throughput increase has been achieved by leveraging additional grinding circuit capacity, based on further pilot plant testwork, with a minimal increase to capital costs.

The project has an updated probable ore reserve of 253-million tonnes at 0.35% copper and 0.32% nickel, compared with a previous estimate of 220-million tonnes grading 0.36% copper and 0.33% nickel.

Average nickel production has increased from about 22 000 t/y nickel in the February 2020 PFS to about 26 000 t/y nickel in the updated January 2021 PFS, while average copper production has increased from 28 000 t/y to 32 000 t/y.

Mining continues to be modelled as conventional drill, blast, load and haul, and is assumed to be contractor-operated during the first five years of operation, transitioning to an owner-operated operation in year six.

Babel will be mined for the first two years to access higher-grade, near-surface mineralisation, with Nebo to begin mining in year three.

The haulage fleet will comprise up to twenty-five 220 t haul trucks and optionality is being maintained to allow for these trucks to be fully autonomous in the future.

The project’s life-of-mine has increased from about 25 years in the February 2020 PFS to about 26 years in the updated January 2021 PFS.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project’s net present value (NPV) has increased from A$800-million, at a 7% discount rate, in the February 2020 PFS to a an NPV of A$1-billion, at a 7% discount rate, in the updated January 2021 PFS. The internal rate of return of 20% has remained the same in both studies.

Payback has also remained at about six years.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital has increased from A$995-million in the February 2020 PFS to about A$1.1-billion in the updated January 2021 PFS.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
OZ Minerals plans to invest $67-million to progress the study, with a final investment decision expected in 2022, and the potential for some earlier progressive funding milestones.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
OZ Minerals, tel +61 8 8229 6600 or email info@ozminerals.com.