Ardea Resources released their Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) completed on its 100%-owned Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP) Goongarrie Hub, located 70km northwest of the mining capital of Australia, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The KNP was awarded Major Project Status by the Federal Government in March 2022.¹
The PFS presents a high-quality evaluation of the Project and defines a compelling investment case to advance the Goongarrie Hub through to Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS). The PFS has also identified clear project enhancement opportunities which will be quantified during the DFS. The PFS should be regarded as being comprised of conservative assumptions and outcomes.
PFS Highlights include:
- Ore Reserve – 194.1Mt at 0.70% Ni and 0.05% Co for 1.36Mt of contained nickel and 99,000t of contained cobalt.²
- Mining optimisation studies have projected production of approximately 30,000t of nickel and 2,000t of cobalt per year for more than 40 years. Year 1 to 5 (post ramp up) production >34ktpa nickel and >3ktpa cobalt²
- Conventional low-cost open pit mining methods result in mining costs comprising less than 12% of total operating cost with a very low strip ratio at an average of 1.5 for the first 35 years of mine life²
- The project generates³:
- Pre-tax NPV₇ of A$7,625M and IRR of 30%
- Post-tax NPV₇ of A$4,980M and IRR of 23%
- Average Annual EBITA of A$800M
- Project pay back within 3.1 years
- Direct cash cost after Co by products of US$3,763/t Ni in MHP during the first five years of operation, and US$5,763/t Ni in MHP over life of mine³
- Total capital cost of A$3,117m, including process plant and infrastructure cost of A$2,264M and sulphuric acid, steam and power plant cost of $574M³
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is expected to be 11.9 kg CO₂ eq. per kg nickel in MHP based on Ardea’s Scope 1, 2 and upstream Scope 3 emissions.⁴
- In-pit tailings disposal minimises environmental footprint and enables mine site rehabilitation, concurrent with steady-state mine operation
KNP Awarded Major Project Status by Australian Federal Government
- Globally significant nickel and cobalt Mineral Resource at the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP) with Mineral Resource 6.1Mt contained nickel and 386kt contained cobalt (plus 3.39kt scandium, from just Goongarrie deposits) and pipeline of other Critical Minerals.
- KNP is the largest nickel-cobalt resource in Australia (GSWA Feb 2022).
KNP – Mineral Resource Estimate
On 16 June 2021, Ardea presented a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Highway deposit (part of the Goongarrie Hub), and an updated JORC Code (2012) compliant MRE completed for the Goongarrie Hub (previously termed Goongarrie Nickel Cobalt Project – GNCP), including a High Grade Resource – 78 million tonnes at 1.0% nickel Long-life Battery Metal Resource Confirmed.
On 30 June 2023, Ardea presented an updated MRE for the KNP, with a combined resource of 854Mt at 0.71% nickel
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