Future is bright at Kambalda
THE new nickel sulphide mine discovered by Mincor is expected to become one of the first to showcase underground electric light vehicles when it opens, with first site works to achieve that target potentially occurring in the first quarter of calendar 2020.
Mincor Resources NL managing director David Southam told conference attendees that the planned restart of its Kambalda mines had been buoyed by a recent offtake deal to process the mines’ high grade in-demand sulphide ores through BHP’s nearby Kambalda concentrator.
“Re-starting Kambalda is coming at the right time for nickel’s price and space in the global metals market,” Mr Southam said.
“Strategically, we are running a dual track process of running a definitive feasibility study at the same time as completing a resource drill-out.
“One of those deposits, Cassini, is continuing to deliver multiple hole intercepts at stellar massive sulphide grades.”
The new high-grade Cassini ore body discovery with its resource of 1Mt at 3.8pc Ni includes a super core intercept of 8.6m at 7pc Ni.
Mincor holds 300sqkm of tenements in the Kambalda district and sees its agreement with BHP as “bringing a strategic partner aboard” to deliver the “best economic outcome when balanced with risk” under the mine restart strategy.
“What is key is that BHP’s concentrator was specifically designed for Kambalda style ores and that is the type of ore we will be mining, processing and selling the resultant nickel concentrate,” Mr Southam said.
Mincor is hoping to deliver initial throughputs of between 400,000t and 600,000t of its ore per year over an initial 4-5 year period.
“We are at a point that mining contractors are being short listed for the DFS costing, whilst resources continue to evolve with an estimate over coming months,” Mr Southam said.
He said the decision to restart undergound nickel mining operations using new electric vehicles would reduce ventilation costs and diesel particulate counts.
“This mine restart will be a global showcase for this new and more environmentally friendly mining technology,” Mr Southam said.