PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Minerals developer TNG on Wednesday announced that the net present value (NPV) of its Mount Peake vanadium/titanium/iron project, in the Northern Territory, had increased by some 40%, after a review of the prefeasibility study discovered a miscalculation in the value of the iron component.
The review also indicated a 15% increase to the life-of-mine (LoM) revenue, increasing it from A$11.8-billion to A$13.6-billion, and a 22% increase in the internal rate of return, from 31.8% to 38.7%.
TNG MD Paul Burton noted that the increase in project economics was an exciting result for the company and the project.
“Based on the revised economic model, the Mount Peake development is even more robust than initially thought, and is shaping up as an outstanding growth asset for TNG shareholders.
The feasibility study previously found that the Mount Peake project could support a 2.5-million-ton-a-year operation, with a LoM of some 20 years. The project could be expanded to a five-million-ton-a-year operation after the first three years, to deliver yearly production of 15 300 t of vanadium oxide, 375 000 t of titanium dioxide concentrate and 1.13-million tons of iron-oxide.
Burton said on Wednesday that the company had also reached several key agreements to progress the definitive feasibility study, including appointing a global engineering and environmental consulting group, and signing a memorandum of understanding with an international engineering, metallurgical, development and technology company and a plant supplier, regarding the commercial development of the TIVAN hydrometallurgical process.