Name of the Project
Orokolo Bay industrial sands project.

Location
Papua New Guinea.

Project Owner/s
Mayur Resources.

Project Description
A definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the project has reinforced its status as a simple, low capital expenditure and financially robust project with multiple product revenue streams.

The project aims to establish a five-million-tonne-a-year mining and processing operation.

The project will produce several products, including vanadium titano-magnetite, dense-media separation (DMS) magnetite, construction sands and a zircon-rich valuable heavy mineral concentrate. The mine will produce 400 000 t/y of vanadium titano-magnetite, magnetite for DMS of 100 000 t/y, zircon concentrate of 8 000 t/y and one-million tonnes a year of silica construction sands.

The project will be completed in two phases.

Phase 1 will provide all the capability and infrastructure for a trial phase.

Phase 1 will enable Mayur to extract and beneficiate 100 000 t of vanadium titano-magnetite for use in smelting trials in China. The processing methodology for Phase 1 is constrained to a single module containing the wet magnetic beneficiation circuit to provide the required tonnages for the trials.

Phase 2 entails the installation of the entire suite of beneficiation circuits – spirals, wet high-intensity magnetic separators, up-current classification, shaking tables and DMS production, as well as the extension of the Phase 1 capability.

The proposed processing circuit involves delivery of the run-of-mine ore to one of two relocatable 2.5-million-tonne-a-year concentrators by front-end loader or haul trucks, where the material will be fed through a vibrating screen to remove organic and oversized material, followed by desliming and two-stage ore upgrading.

The project has an estimated 15-year mine life.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated post-tax (real) net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $131-million and an internal rate of return of 103.7%, with a payback of 1.1 years from the start of operations.

Capital Expenditure
The project is estimated at $20.48-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Mayur Resources has signed a binding offtake agreement for magnetite product from its Orokolo Bay project.

The offtake agreement covers 300 000 t/y of magnetite product over a three-year period, with an option to extend for another year at market-linked pricing.

The offtake agreement replaces a previously announced offtake with Shinebest, announced in 2019, and results in an increase in the contracted volume and term.

The agreement is subject to the Orokolo Bay project’s entering operations by the end of June 2023, and a subsequent trial shipment of 30 000 t performing to the satisfaction of Shinebest.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Siecap (DFS lead and study management); Groundworks Plus (resource and reserve estimation, and mine planning and design); IHC Robbins/ CRL (metallurgical testwork); CRTH / Siecap (plant design); Siecap (barging system design and financial modelling and evaluation); Coffey/Tim Omundsen; and Social Environmental & Research Consultancy/Tim Omundsen (social studies).

Contact Details for Project Information
Mayur Resources, tel +61 7 3157 4400.