Future Battery Minerals (ASX:FBM) has received a positive scoping Study that confirms potential viability of the 100% owned Saints Nickel Project, located in the Tier 1 nickel mining jurisdiction of the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt in Western Australia.
Highlights
● Simple infrastructure and mine development requirements support a simple toll treatment operation within close proximity of several third-party concentrators operating in the Leinster-Kalgoorlie-Kambalda region
● Twin box cut and decline developments centred on the St Patricks and St Andrews deposits, respectively.
● Metallurgical testwork completed with saleable concentrate produced comprising grades of 10-14% Ni with excellent recoveries of 80–87% for nickel, 95% for copper and 84 to 92% for cobalt
● Baseline environmental studies well advanced to facilitate the permitting process for potential development
● Future Battery Minerals (FBM) to commence a follow up Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) with the aim of realizing an economic return from its flagship nickel sulphide project.
“We are extremely pleased with the positive Scoping Study results and see this as a significant step forward in de-risking the Saints Nickel Project,” Executive Chairman, Mike Edwards, said.
“When the company commenced the Study, the aim was to understand the economics of the existing Resource and the potential to commercialize and fund further exploration from the base of underground development.
“The free cash flows generated by a simple and short-term underground mining operation of the existing high-grade Resource now provides the Company with the confidence to undertake a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) and to continue exploration work.
“However, the Project provides substantial upside if current nickel prices persist or if exploration successfully discovers further resources at depth to potentially extend the life of mine.”
The Scoping Study has demonstrated potentially strong financial metrics for the Saints Nickel Project based on a relatively low pre-production capital cost of A$8.6M. Based on the key Base Case scenario assumptions as described in the ‘Financial Results’ section, Appendix 1 and 2 and Table 2 below, project payback is modelled to occur within only 12 months of development from a 5-year Life of Mine (LOM).
The Scoping Study describes a decline accessing the Resource that is subsequently mined underground via conventional short lift open stoping. The mined rock is then trucked to surface, and then trucked on public roads to a third-party concentrator. The company considers the Saints Nickel Project to be technically low risk given the simple mine plan drawing from the majority Indicated Resource and the high processing metal recoveries.
The Scoping Study also outlines the initial baseline environmental works that have been carried out to date to progress the Saints Nickel Project along its approval pathway.
The Scoping Study was completed to an overall +/-30% accuracy.
The Saints Nickel Project is located approximately 65km northwest of Kalgoorlie and 7km east of the Goldfields Highway. The tenement package comprises two mining leases covering an area of approximately 20sq. km of prospective Archaean greenstone belt geology within the Eastern Goldfields province of the Yilgarn Craton. The Saints Nickel Project sits in the same sequence of rocks that host the historical Scotia nickel mine, 15km to the south. Scotia produced 30,800t of contained nickel at 2.2% nickel before closing in July 1977.
For further information please visit: https://futurebatteryminerals.com.au/
