Transport options deliver savings at Nowa Nowa
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior developer Eastern Iron on Thursday revealed that a modified transport plan for its proposed Nowa Nowa project, in Victoria, could drive down operating costs.
A 2014 definitive feasibility study (DFS) estimated that a capital injection of A$33.6-million could deliver an openpit operation producing 780 000 t/y of 58% iron over a seven-year mine life.
The DFS estimated a production cost of about A$26.10/t of finished product at the mine gate, with the DFS assuming that the finished iron-ore product would be trucked to the Port of Eden and loaded onto bulk carriers for dispatch to market.
However, Eastern Iron on Thursday noted that the combined use of a slurry pipeline and self-decanting bulk carriers had the potential to deliver an upgraded 62% iron product, at a free-on-board cash cost of around A$32/t.
The use of a concentrate line from the mine site could also deliver further significant cost savings by eliminating all road transport requirements, and lower oil prices could potentially reduce shipping rates to about A$15/t.
The forecast cost for delivered product has now been estimated at around A$47/t, indicating the Nowa Nowa project’s potential to be one of the lowest cost iron-ore operations in Australia.
Eastern Iron said that technical studies and more detailed evaluation were required to bring the transport options to the feasibility study level, and would include expanded metallurgical testwork, concentrate pipeline engineering and design, water supply studies and detailed capital and operating cost estimates.
The company was planning on spending some A$800 000 to conduct this work.
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