Name of the Project
Nyngan scandium project.

Location
The Nyngan resource is located about 500 km north-west of Sydney, Australia.

Client
Scandium Mining International.

Project Description
The project has mineral resources of 16.92-million tonnes grading 235 parts per million (ppm) of scandium and a mineral reserve of 1.47-million tonnes grading 409 ppm.

The mine plan is based on a plant feed of 240 t/d or a 75 000 t/y requirement. Mine production is based on conventional openpit methods with an average strip ratio of 2.1:1 (overburden/resource).

The mine will be worked in campaigns, likely three one-month production periods a year, avoiding the wet months, in which a contract miner will be employed to extract and deliver material to a run-of-mine plant stockpile adjacent to the processing facility.

The processing plant will run continuously, fed from plant stockpiles of previously mined resource, covered against moisture and weather.

The processing plant operations will size the input material, and then initially apply a high-pressure acid leach system using a continuous autoclave pressure-fed with preheated ore, dosed with sulphuric acid.

Subsequent circuits will then recover the liberated scandium using solvent extraction, oxalate precipitation and calcination to generate a finished scandium oxide product.

Once at nameplate capacity, the processing plant is forecast to produce from 36 600 kg/y to 42 000 kg/y of scandium oxide product, averaging 37 690 kg/y over the 20-year feasibility study production period. Oxide product will be produced on site as scandium oxide, at grades between 98% and 99.9%, and will be offered at grades that meet various customer requirements, suitably packaged for direct sales to end-users.

Plant tailings will be neutralised using lime to pH 8.5 and dewatered and stored in a residue storage facility or tailings pond, thus meeting the environmental requirements of mining permits and New South Wales state regulators.

Jobs to be Created
The project is expected to employ about 75 people. The mine will also need 60 construction workers to start the project.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a constant dollar net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $177-million and an internal rate of return of 33.1%, with a payback of 3.3 years.

Value
The capital cost estimate for the project is $87.1-million.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The News South Wales Department of Planning and Environment has approved the Nyngan project, with stringent conditions attached.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Scandium Mining International, tel +1 775 355 9500, fax +1 775 355 9506 or email info@scandiummining.com.