Name and Location
Nebo-Babel nickel/copper project, Australia.

Client
Cassini Resources.

Project Description
A scoping study on the Nebo-Babel nickel/copper project, located in the greater West Musgrave project, in Western Australia, has confirmed that the project is economically viable. The study considers a four-million-tonne-a-year base case and a staged 1.5-million-tonne-year to four-million-tonne-a year case.

The base case average production is estimated at 12 300 t/y of nickel in concentrate and 14 300 t/y of copper in concentrate over an initial life-of-mine (LoM) of 15 years. The staged case average production is estimated at 8 900 t/y of nickel in concentrate and 8 500 t/y of copper in concentrate over an initial LoM of 15 years.

Both deposits will be mined simultaneously using openpit methods. Both production scenarios envisage mining starting at Babel’s Startmeup shoot, where the mineralisation occurs just below the surface, while prestrip is undertaken on the high-grade core of Nebo.

An appropriately sized earthmoving fleet, operated by contractors on behalf of Cassini, will be used. Maximum pit depth at Nebo is 210 m, while, at Babel, it is only 165 m, owing to the much shallower dip of the orebody. The mining schedule has been smoothed across both deposits, although there are further opportunities to refine mine scheduling and minimise prestrip during the early years.

The four-million-tonne-a-year case assumes the construction of a four-million-tonne-a-year processing plant on a conventional project development pathway and timetable.

In comparison, the staged case involves the initial construction of a 1.5-million-tonne-a-year processing plant, which would later be upgraded to accommodate a further 2.5-million tonnes a year of processing capacity for a total of four-million tonnes a year.

The upgrade involves the construction of a second process line. The 1.5-million-tonne-a-year processing plant will be capable of accommodating higher throughput and will be relatively modular.

Processing will comprise conventional crushing, milling and classification circuits, followed by two stages of conventional flotation, dewatering and filtration to produce separate nickel and copper concentrates. Several processing alternatives have been identified for review in later studies.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value (NPV), at a 10% discount rate, of A$1.14-billion in the four-million-tonne-a year case and an NPV, at a 10% discount rate, of A$619-million in the staged case. The project has an internal rate of return (IRR) of 70% in the four-million-tonne-a-year case and an IRR of 55% in the staged case. The study shows a short payback period of 2.8 years under the four-million-tonne-a-year case and 3.2 years under the staged case.

Value
The preproduction capital expenditure required for the first phase of the staged case is estimated at A$264.1-million, with a

A$55-million contingency. This is significantly lower than the A$432.1 million, with an A$89-million contingency for the four-million-tonne-a year case.

Duration
Construction is expected to start in 2017 and first concentrate production is expected to start in late 2018.

Latest Developments
The scoping study has highlighted several opportunities to significantly enhance project economics.

Cassini plans to start a prefeasibility study, which will focus on the economic impact of several key enhancement opportunities outlined above. This phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2015, and will involve relatively inexpensive desktop studies in mining, metallurgy, process engineering and logistics. The company also intends to continue to progress long-lead-time items such as baseline environmental surveys, hydrogeology and geotechnical investigations.

Metallurgical recovery of nickel is one of the key economic drivers of the project. Cassini will, therefore, continue the refinement of the metallurgy programme, where several potential improvements have been identified. This work will initially be conducted on the existing composites (requiring no further drilling) before additional samples will be obtained to attain greater spatial representation of the deposits.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Cassini Resources, tel +61 8 6164 8900, fax +61 8 6164 8999 or email admin@cassiniresources.com.au.