Arafura cuts Nolans cost by another A$400m
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths developer Arafura Resources has identified another A$400-million in cost savings to develop its Nolans project, in the Northern Territory, taking the 2012 estimate of A$1.9-billion to A$1.5-billion.
The miner said on Friday that a review of the project’s capital expenditure and flow sheet had identified the major cost savings, with a revised design at the rare earth intermediate plant seeing the replacement of hydrochloric acid with sulphuric acid in the pre-leach system.
The decision to transfer the rare earth separation plant alongside an established chemical precinct also removed the need to construct a dedicated chlor-alkali plant, Arafura told shareholders.
The company was currently also working to review and refine the infrastructure capital costs for the mine and concentrator, as well as the rare earth intermediate plant.
Last year, Arafura announced plans to cut about A$1-billion from the price tag of its proposed Nolans project through a range of initiatives. The miner in June saved its first A$400-million by abandoning plans for a rare-earth complex in South Australia, cancelling a land sale agreement with OneSteel.
The company has, to date, conducted a number of visits to international sites that have been identified through a desktop study as ideal locations for the rare earth separation plant.
A number of sites have been shortlisted and expanded discussions would now be undertaken.
Meanwhile, Arafura reported that operating cost estimates for the Nolans project have also benefitted from the process improvements, plant reconfigurations and the proposed relocation of the rare-earth complex.
Operating expenditure has decreased by some 17% from A$20.55 to A$17.10/kg of rare-earth oxide.
Arafura was targeting a production of 20 000 t/y of rare-earth oxide at the Nolans project, over a life-of-mine of 20 years.
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