European Nickel halts Turkey project, focus shifts to Philippines study
miningweekly.com
By: Petronel Smit
10th December 2010
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim and ASX-listed European Nickel will fast-track the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Acoje nickel laterite project in the Philippines, it said on Friday, with the start-up of the heap-leach trial facility planned for the first quarter of 2011.
The miner also placed the Çaldag project in Turkey on care and maintenance until receipt of the forestry permit, as the Western Bank project financing and development depended on the reissuance of the permit.
MD Rob Gregory said that the Çaldag technical team would be transferred to the Acoje project team shortly. “A significant amount of the metallurgical information that has been developed and compiled at Çaldag is readily transferable to the Acoje DFS,” he added.
The DFS at the Acoje project, based on Luzon Island, started in March 2009, following the results of a positive prefeasibility study, which confirmed an economically viable nickel heap-leach project.
The base-case scenario was an operation producing 24 500 t/y of nickel mixed hydroxide product (MHP) over an initial ten-year life of mine. There was significant potential to extend the mine life by converting the Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) inferred Acoje and Zambales chromite nickel laterite deposits to Jorc indicated status.
Meanwhile, European Nickel also announced that the Çaldag offtake contract with BHP Billiton for 100% of the MHP had been terminated by mutual agreement. The Çaldag MHP is an extremely high-grade concentrate, with a contained metal value of about 35%.
A number of parties had expressed interest in securing an offtake agreement for the Çaldag MHP and European Nickel would resume negotiations once the forestry permit had been received.
Gregory pointed out that European Nickel aimed to capitalise on its low-cost, heap-leach technology.
“While we are disappointed that, despite repeated assurances, the forestry permit for the Çaldag project has yet to be reissued, we do have an equally viable alternative project in Acoje, which has the potential to be significantly larger and longer life than Çaldag,” he said. |
