Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Bauxite developer Metro Mining on Tuesday announced a near fivefold increase in the ore reserves at its Bauxite Hills project, in Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula.
Metro told shareholders that the ore reserve increased by 398% to 48.2-million tonnes, of which 41.8-million tonnes were classified as proven and 6.4-million tonnes were classified as probable.
The increase in the ore reserve had extended the expected mine life of Bauxite Hills from the 21 years contemplated in the February feasibility study, to 27 years, and would support the production of up to two-million tonnes a year of direct shipping ore (DSO).
Metro noted that the production of DSO allowed the development of a mine with lower capital and lower operating costs, compared with a mine producing a beneficiated bauxite product, by avoiding a number of significant costs including infrastructure and water, energy and tailings dam requirements.
Based on the February feasibility study, the DSO operation was expected to require a capital investment of only A$27.4-million, and would deliver an internal rate of return of 88% and a net present value after tax of A$197-million.
Operating costs for the DSO operation have also been estimated at around A$26.70/t free-on-board.