Name of the Project
Dolphin tungsten project.

Location
King Island, Tasmania, Australia.

Project Owner/s
Group 6 Metals.

Project Description
The project has a probable reserve of 4.43-million tons grading 0.92% tungsten trioxide.

Group 6 proposes to extend the historical Dolphin opencut mine eastward to a depth of –140 m RL to recover remnant ore from the historic underground operation using an eight-year opencut mine. On completion of the proposed Dolphin opencut, a further six years of underground mining is planned from ore resources between –140 m RL to –300 m RL, extending the total project life to 14 years.

It is planned that the opencut operation will mine and process about 400 000 t/y of ore for eight years to produce about 26 800 t of tungsten concentrate. The underground mine will be accessed from a portal established at –120 m RL and a new southern decline developed to re-access and rehabilitate historic mine infrastructure below –150 m RL, including production drives and ventilation return airways. 

The underground production schedule and mining equipment list have been calculated, based on the mine design and production rates of about 300 000 t/y of ore producing an additional 24 500 t/y of tungsten concentrate. The project also requires the construction of a 400 000 t/y gravity process plant, supplemented by a concentrate dressing circuit, together with mine infrastructure.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The revised feasibility study has increased the pretax net present value of the project, at an 8% discount rate, from A$241-million to A$300-million. The project has an internal rate of return of 42.5%. Payback is estimated at 2.25 years.

Capital Expenditure
Group 6 reported in November 2022 that the project’s startup capital costs have increased from A$72.7-million to A$92.7-million, with deferred capital increasing from A$56.5-million to A$61.2-million, while life-of-mine capital costs have increased from A$129.2-million to A$153.9-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Group 6 is working to ensure that the project remains on schedule to come on line in the first quarter of 2023.

Latest Developments
Group 6 Metals will raise A$20-million through a share placement to bring its Dolphin tungsten mine into production.

The company has received binding commitments for the issue of more than 117.6-million shares.

More than 87.7-million shares will be issued under the company’s existing placement capacity, with the remainder of the shares to be issued to MD and CEO Keith McKnight, chairperson Johann Jacobs and executive director Chris Ellis, subject to shareholder approval at the company’s extraordinary general meeting.

Following the share placement, the company will also undertake a share purchase plan to raise up to A$3-million at the same price as the share placement. Eligible shareholders can subscribe for up to A$30 000 of additional shares in the company.

The plan opened on December 6, 2022, and will close on January 6, 2023.

Investors participating in the share placement and share purchase plan will receive one option for every two shares subscribed for at a strike price of 28c each and a two-year term.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Polberro Consulting (underground mine plan and schedule); Resource and Exploration Geology (required personnel, equipment and quarterly operating expenditure for contract underground mining estimate); Group 6 Metals (update of Xenith Consulting’s estimated opencut mining costs); and Gekko Systems (processing plant design, based on a flowsheet developed by ALS Laboratories).

Contact Details for Project Information
Group 6 Metals, email info@g6m.com.au.