PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A feasibility study (FS) at Panoramic Resources’ Savannah base metals project, in Western Australia, has demonstrated that mining the Savannah North deposit could significantly extend the mine life of the Savannah operation with minimal capital requirement.

ASX-listed Panoramic in January 2016 took the decision to idle the Savannah operation on the back of declining nickel prices. The operation was placed on care and maintenance in May 2016.

However, since then, Panoramic has been evaluating the merits of the Savannah North deposit.

The newly released Savannah FS is based on mining the remaining ore reserve at Savannah, while developing across to the Savannah North deposit. Access development is expected to take some nine months to reach first ore at Savannah North, with full production from Savannah North to be reached 15 months after the start of development.

The FS estimates that some 114 000 t of nickel, 53 700 t of copper and 7 700 t of cobalt can be produced from the combined operation, over a mine life of more than ten years, at a rate of 9 700 t/y of nickel, 5 000 t/y of copper and 670 t/y of cobalt.

The FS was based on a combined mineral resource of 13.9-million tonnes for the Savannah, Savannah North and Copernicus deposits.

Panoramic reported that a low up-front capital investment of only A$20-million will be required to resume operations at Savannah, owing to the mine development already being in place to access the existing ore and the existing mobile equipment fleet, and the processing plant and supporting infrastructure being kept in good condition.

As part of the FS, the company has identified a number of opportunities which could add significant value to the project, including future resource growth, mining planning and scheduling, as well as productivity and product optimisation.

These opportunities will be assessed as part of the next phase of optimisation work.

“The release of the Savannah FS confirms the potential to extend the mine life of Savannah by at least ten years. The company’s decision to place Savannah onto care and maintenance in May 2016, thereby preserving the remaining ore reserve during this current cycle of weak nickel prices, will allow us to resume operations with a short lead time and minimal capital investment,” said MD Peter Harold.

He noted that, in addition to the existing resource, the Savannah North deposit remains open in the upper zone to the east and west, and in the lower zone to the northwest.