MPI Mines Wants 1m Tonne Nickel Resource
Million-tonne undeveloped Nickel Sulphide resources that are left in the world are yet to be discovered. Access to this treasure will be granted when the proposed small Nickel project in Western Australia comes into reality.
MPI Mines Ltd is completing a feasibility study for its Wedgetail mine at the Honeymoon Well tenements north of WMC Resource’s massive Mt Keith Nickel operation in Western Australia.
In the initial phase, study for a conventional underground mine producing 10,000 tonne a year of nickel concentrate should be completed at the end of the third quarter of 2004. The production is scheduled to come on line in 2006.
Melbourne-based MPI believes the project, is feasible in its own right. It is considered as a “starter kit” which gives a foothold to the massive one million tonne resource, to his partner Nickel giant OM Group Inc, and to itself.
Initially, at a grade of just 0.8 grams per tonne nickel, the resources have previously been considered uneconomic to develop. But MPI executive general manager Keith Wilson expresses that soaring nickel prices in the world market and new technology have prompted the venture to take another look at the tenements and research new ways to realize the project’s potential.
By using autoclaves to process the ore MPI believes it can recover 80 percent of the ore body, rather than the 60 per cent using conventional means. Costs would be reduced by building the autoclave near the nickel giant’s existing autoclaves at its Cawse project, also in Western Australia. This new autoclave will be funded by OM. we believe that those extra nickel units recover should make the project more robust.
Mr. Wilson states that, Honeymoon well is one of the world’s largest undeveloped nickel sulphide resources. We are still at the conceptual level but we’ve been working on it with our partners now for six months.
Wedgetail, is only the conventional underground mine. It is a starter kit through which the access in to the Honeymoon Well is attained. Operating in the area helps in better understanding of the resource.
The cost of development is expected to exceed $300 million, including $80 million for a 20,000 tonne a year autoclave. This project has a rapid expansion, if the feasibility study proves to be positive. The newly constructed plant should be producing in 2006. But the bigger version of this project is likely come into play by 2007.