PERTH (miningweekly.com) - ASX-listed Metallica Minerals would accelerate feasibility studies on its Nornico nickel-cobalt-scandium project, in North Queensland, following a revised resource for the Lucknow deposit.

The scandium resource at the Lucknow deposit has more than doubled the indicated and measured resource to 7.5-million tons, at 156 g/t scandium, up from the previous 3.3-million tons, at 176 g/t scandium.

Metallica said that the resource was well defined, shallow, and mostly at or near surface, making it amendable to relatively simple mining.

The new resource figures have boosted the total Nornico scandium resource to 16.8-million tons at 130 g/t scandium, containing some 3 250 t of scandium oxide.

MD Andrew Gillies said that the completion of the exploration phase at the project enabled Metallica to focus more on its mining and engineering feasibility studies, permitting for development and marketing efforts aimed at potential end-users of scandium.

“The latest significant upgrade of our high-grade Lucknow scandium resource is a further boost to the prospects of Metallica as an emerging world leader and long-term supplier of scandium, which is increasing in demand as one of the 17 rare-earth elements.”

He noted that there has already been strong customer interest and enquiry into the Nornico project, adding that the company remained confident in its potential to establish long-term customers who require scandium for high-performance and high-value aluminium alloys, more efficient solid oxide fuel cells and scandium-bearing metal halide lighting.

“We look forward to the imminent start of detailed pilot scale testwork at the SGS Lakefield Oretest laboratories in Perth, with the initial focus on production of scandium oxide for evaluation by potential offtake customers and joint venture participants,” said Gillies.

The Nornico project comprises five key nickel laterite deposits, with the main focus on the Greenvale-Lucknow deposits, with supplementary ore supply from the Kokomo deposit, and in later years trucked ore from the Bull Creek and Minnamoolka deposits.

Feasibility studies were targeting a combined nickel-cobalt-scandium mining and processing operation at a rate of some 750 000 t/y. First production was targeted for 2015.

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