Centaurus Metals (ASX: CTM) has received highly encouraging preliminary results from the pilot plant testwork programme currently underway at ALS Metallurgy in Perth on its 100%-owned Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project in north-eastern Brazil.
The positive results reinforce the quality of the Jaguar Project and supports its potential to achieve excellent nickel recoveries and ultimately deliver a battery-grade nickel sulphate product for the rapidly growing Electric Vehicle (EV) market.
This programme will continue until the end of April, resulting in a delay to the important process flowsheet design for the refinery circuit. In light of this, the completion schedule for the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) has been revised to late Q4 2023, with a Final Investment Decision (FID) scheduled for Q3 2024.
Managing Director, Darren Gordon, said the results from the initial phases of the pilot plant testwork programme were equal to or better than expectations, supporting the process design for the downstream refinery and validating the company’s development strategy for the Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project.
“The results we have seen to date have reinforced our belief that Jaguar is a Tier-1 nickel project with a very low GHG profile that is ideally placed to deliver Class 1 nickel products into the rapidly growing EV-battery market.
“We are seeing very high levels of metal extraction from the refining of flotation concentrates in pilot testwork, with nickel extraction in the leach circuit of over 98%. With this we expect to see a very high nickel recovery from concentrate to sulphate once piloting work is complete.
“Efficient separation of zinc will further enhance the project economics at Jaguar from by-product revenue generation as it is likely that a zinc hydroxide product will be produced for delivery to the zinc smelter market. Further, Phase 3 of the pilot program – which is currently underway – is expected to produce a cobalt hydroxide product, further adding to the by-product revenue streams from Jaguar.
“The pilot programme is in full swing and will now continue until the end of April, with results to be collated and fed into the final process flowsheet design for the refinery circuit.
“Given the scale and importance of this work, it is vital that we get this right to ensure we deliver the high quality project and product to the market as planned. The team has worked hard to reconfigure the overall DFS schedule, and our master schedule now shows a completion time of late Q4 2023 rather than mid-2023, pushing out the FID to Q3 2024.
“While delays are always regrettable, our primary focus is on maximizing the long-term value of this exceptional asset for our shareholders and delivering a project that will successfully ramp up to full production and stand the test of time.
“The resource industry globally, including all of the consultants and service groups that support it, are currently working at capacity, and we have to be pragmatic about this, while also ensuring that we never compromise on the quality of work undertaken for this very important phase of the DFS for the sake of timelines. The team is confident that we can meet the revised timeline of late Q4.
For further information please visit: https://www.centaurus.com.au
