Australian Mines Limited has announced the results of a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) on the company’s 100 per cent owned Sconi Cobalt-Nickel-Scandium Project in North Queensland.
Prepared by global engineering and construction firm, Ausenco, the independent report verifies that the cobalt, nickel and scandium Mineral Resources contained within the three deposits constituting the Sconi-Project (Greenvale, Lucknow and Kokomo) can be extracted and processed on ‘commercially attractive terms’ through the development of open pit mining operations and a central processing plant at the project’s site.
As per the BFS, the Sconi Project is expected to generate a combined revenue of $512 Million per year over the projected 18 years of processing operations, resulting in a project payback period (post-tax) of little over 5 years.
In brief, the Sconi BFS project metrics include:
- Processing plant throughput: 2.0 million tonnes per annum (tpa)
- Average cobalt sulphate production (Years 2-6): 9,898 tpa
- Average nickel sulphate production (Years 2-6): 70,894 tpa
- Average cobalt sulphate production (Life of Mine): 8,496 tpa
- Average nickel sulphate production (Life of Mine): 53,301 tpa
Beneficially, the project is also located adjacent to the town of Greenvale, 250 kilometres by road from the regional population centre of Townsville, and within easy driving distance of the nearby town of Charter Towers, all of which would support a residential resourcing model for both the proposed construction phase and ongoing mining and processing operations at Sconi.
Australian Mines Managing Director, Benjamin Bell said that almost two years ago to the month they reset the strategy at Australian Mines and set out to evaluate and acquire at least one advanced technology metals project in Australia, looking for the right project that was a genuine near-term development prospect.
“That process resulted in us not only picking up the Sconi Cobalt-Nickel-Scandium Project in Queensland, which quickly became the core focus within the company and is now the subject of the positive BFS announced here, but we also simultaneously acquired the Flemington Cobalt-Nickel-Scandium Project in New South Wales.”
“The Sconi BFS demonstrates robust project and financial metrics, with capital costs in-line with Australian Mines’ prediction for the processing plant, while production volumes and specifications are within the range sought by our off-take agreement with SK Innovation,” he said.
“I look forward to implementing the next steps on the path towards production of what are increasing in-demand and essential commodities for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries, used extensively in electric vehicle and energy storage applications,” Mr Bell concluded.
More information on the project, along with the full results of the Bankable Feasibility Study can be found here.