Caravel lowers costs for WA copper project
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – An updated prefeasibility study (PFS) into the Caravel copper project, in Western Australia, has reduced capital cost estimates, the operating costs, and the water and energy demands from the July PFS.
The updated PFS reconfigured the two-train flotation circuit which was presented in the July PFS into a single train 27-million-tonne-a-year throughput plant, which simplified construction, enhanced operability and improved both capital and operating costs, said ASX-listed Caravel Minerals on Tuesday.
The original PFS estimated that the project could produce 62 000 t/y of copper at a C1 cost of some $1.72/lb. The study estimated that the capital cost for the dual train plant would be A$1.2-billion, based on the development of two 13.9-million-tonne-a-year-capacity trains.
The updated PFS, which also included coarse particle flotation in the process flowsheet, and the use of high-pressure grinding rolls, has now reduced the processing cash unit costs by up to A$1.23/t of ore, reduced the capital costs by around A$100-million, reduced the C1 costs from $1.72/lb to $1.54/lb and reduced all-in sustaining costs from $2.55/lb to $2.37/lb.
Furthermore, the changes have has also reduced installed power demand by up to 22 MW and reduced water consumption by about 1.8 Gl/y.
Annual copper-in-concentrate production would be slightly lowered from 62 000 t/y to 60 000 t/y on the back of the proposed changes.
However the updated PFS has also resulted in an increase to the estimated pre-tax net present value from the A$1.06-billion estimated in the original study, to between A$1.3-billion to A$1.7-billion, while the internal rate of return has increased from the previously estimated 14.7% to between 16% and 20%.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Rittal is a world leading provider of top-quality integrated systems for enclosures, power distribution, climate control, IT infrastructure and...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
