PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Nickel developer Poseidon Nickel has revised its mineral resource estimates for the Mt Windarra project, in Western Australia, to bring it in line with the latest Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliance standards.
Poseidon revealed on Friday that the project was estimated to host some 4.35-million tonnes of ore, grading 1.64% nickel for 71 500 t of contained metal.
Poseidon recently signed a conditional offtake agreement with mining giant BHP Billiton’s Nickel West division over the Mt Windarra ore. The offtake agreement would be structured in the form of an ore tolling and concentrate purchase agreement, under which Poseidon would supply ore from the Windarra operation, which would then be hauled to Nickel Wests’ Leinster concentrator for toll treatment.
Nickel West would purchase the concentrate produced from the Windarra operation, while Poseidon would pay a treatment charge to Nickel West for every tonne of ore processed.
The offtake agreement would run for an initial two years, with first ore deliveries scheduled in February next year. The contract was for a minimum of 350 000 t/y of ore, and a maximum of 500 000 t/y, but could be extended to 700 000 t/y by mutual agreement.