Name of the Project
Ta Khoa nickel/copper/platinum group elements project.

Location
Son La province, Vietnam.

Project Owner/s
Blackstone Minerals.

Project Description
The Ta Khoa project comprises the development of an openpit mine at the Ban Phuc disseminated sulphide (DSS) and upstream and downstream processing infrastructure. A downstream nickel and cobalt product will be produced to supply Asia’s growing lithium-ion battery industry.

In the four-million-tonne-a-year base case scenario, the project is expected to produce about 12 700 t/y of nickel over an estimated 8.5-year mine life.

The project has a maiden Ban Phuc DSS indicated resource of 44.3-million tonnes grading 0.52% nickel for 229 000 t of nickel and an inferred mineral resource of 14.3-million tonnes grading 0.35% nickel for 50 000 t of nickel.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
In the base case scenario, the project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of between $550-million and $780-million, and an internal rate of return of between 38% and 50%, with a payback of about 2.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital is estimated at $314-million in the base case scenario.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Blackstone Minerals has started studies into the potential application of green hydrogen at the proposed Ta Khoa project.

The current feasibility for the project requires using oxygen in the downstream processing plant, which is typically produced by a conventional cryogenic oxygen plant, with nitrogen as a by-product.

However, the company has said that it will investigate producing oxygen through the electrolysis of water, which will also produce green hydrogen as a by-product.

The hydrogen study will investigate hydrogen technologies and their potential application at the Ta Khoa project, a trade-off assessment of the economic and environmental benefits of each downstream option, as well as an assessment of the potential for downstream businesses to tap into renewable hydroelectric power and water sources.

Should the feasibility study yield positive results, the company will include green hydrogen into the Ta Khoa base case and consider options to commercialise production for sale to third parties.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Blackstone Minerals (geology, mining and mineral processing); Optimize group (independent consulting and review); BM Geological Services (mineral resource modelling); Pells Sullivan Meynink (geotechnical engineering); Mining Plus (mining engineering); Whittle Consulting (integrated strategic planning); ConnectivIQ (financial modelling); Como Engineers (upstream processing); Simulus Engineers (downstream processing); ALS Metallurgy (upstream metallurgical testwork) and Simulu Laboratories (downstream metallurgical testwork).

Contact Details for Project Information
Blackstone Minerals, tel +61 8 9425 5217 or email admin@blackstoneminerals.com.au