Sandpiper economics improve for UCL
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Phosphate hopeful UCL Resources on Friday said that an updated definitive feasibility study (DFS) on the Sandpiper project, in Namibia, has improved the project economics.
The updated DFS highlighted three areas of improvement, including a decrease in the steady-state cash costs from $59.70 to $52.05, and a reduction in capital costs from $326.3-million to $323.2-million.
The selling price for the product had also improved to an average of $116.60/t, compared with the $105.10/t estimated in the April 2012 DFS.
The updated DFS had also increased the net present value of the Sandpiper project from $297.1-million to $498-million, while the internal rate of return has increased from 23.6% to 26.4%.
The Sandpiper project was expected to deliver some five-million tons a year of phosphate product over a life-of-mine of 20 years.
UCL noted that a capital and operating cost optimisation study was also conducted, but not included in the updated DFS, which indicated that there was a possibility of further enhancing the project economics by undertaking a staged construction of the tailings storage facilities, reducing the number of buffer ponds from three to two, changing the transportation method of the material from pipeline to conveyor, and possibly moving the buffer pond closer to the beneficiation plant, which would result in reduced capital expenditure owing to a shorter pipeline.
The Sandpiper project was being jointly developed by UCL and its shareholder Mawarid Mining, which acquired its 42.5% stake in the project through a A$25-million deal with ASX- and TSX-listed Minemakers.
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