What We Do

Cosmic Boy

The high-grade nickel ore mined from Forrestania is processed through the Cosmic Boy Concentrator (CBC) and sold into offtake agreements with Jinchuan Group, China’s largest stainless steel producer and BHP Ni West.

The CBC treats the raw nickel and produces a consistent nickel concentrate product grading approximately 14% nickel. The concentrate produced from the Forrestania project is characterised by low impurities such as magnesium which makes it more desirable to smelters.

The concentrator consists of a three-stage crushing circuit, followed by a single closed-circuit ball mill and a system of flotation tanks and thickening/filtration system.

The recovery rates for Cosmic Boy currently average between 85% and 90%. The recovery rates refer to the percentage amount of nickel recovered from the raw ore during processing.

At CBC a Mill Recovery Enhancement Project (MREP) has recently been commissioned.  The MREP incorporates the use of the Company’s BioHeap™ technology to recover nickel from the tailings waste stream. The nickel recovered is then converted into a high-grade nickel sulphide product which can either be mixed with the CBC floatation concentrate or sold as a separate premium product suitable to be processed in a refinery.

PRODUCTION STATISTICS

  • FY 21 FY 22 YTD
    Item Unit YTD Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Total
    Total Ore Mined Tns 522,855 117,009 123,671 102,848 343,528
    Mine Grade Ni % 3.2%3.2%3.4%3.2%3.3%
    Total Nickel Mined tonnes 16,812 3,741 4,200 3,254 11,195
    Ore Processed (Milling/Concentrator) tonnes 581,058 148,124 151,417 150,104 449,645
    Processed Grade Ni % 3.2%3.1%3.1%2.6%2.9%
    Average Processing Recovery % 87%84%86%84%85%
    Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced tonnes 16,180 3,804 4,025 3,339 11,168
    Total Nickel Sold tonnes 15,509 3,962 4,511 3,412 11,885
    Contained Nickel in stockpiles tonnes 2,772 2,079 1,442 1,023
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate A$/lb 4.20 4.90 4.88 5.48 5.07
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate inc MREP A$/lb 4.23 4.95 4.87 5.52 5.10
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate (inc MREP) US$/lb 3.16 3.63 3.55 3.99 3.71
    Exchange Rate US$/A$ 0.75 0.73 0.73 0.72 0.73
    Realised Nickel Price (before payability) A$/lb 10.07 11.90 13.16 18.44 14.26
  • FY 21 FY 22 YTD
    Tonnes Mined YTD Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Total
    Flying Fox
    High Grade Ore Mined tonnes 176,473 29,967 43,794 38,254 112,015
    Grade Ni % 3.3%3.1%2.4%2.2%2.5%
    Low Grade Ore Mined tonnes 13,721 998 342 15,061
    Grade Ni % 1.2%1.2%1.2%1.2%
    Flying Fox Nickel Mined tonnes 5,739 1,099 1,077 853 3,029
    Spotted Quoll
    Ore Mined tonnes 346,382 73,321 78,879 64,252 216,452
    Grade Ni % 3.2%3.6%4.0%3.7%3.8%
    Spotted Quoll Nickel Mined tonnes 11,073 2,642 3,123 2,401 8,166
    Total Ore Mined tonnes 522,855 117,009 123,671 102,848 343,528
    Grade Ni % 3.2%3.2%3.4%3.2%3.3%
    Total Nickel Mined tonnes 16,812 3,741 4,200 3,254 11,195
  • FY 21 FY 22 YTD
    Tonnes Milled and Sold YTD Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Total
    Total Milled Ore tonnes 581,058 148,124 151,417 150,104 449,645
    Grade % 3.2%3.1%3.1%2.6%2.9%
    Average Recovery % 87%84%86%84%85%
    Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced (ⁱ) tonnes 16,180 3,804 4,025 3,339 11,168
    Nickel in Concentrate Sold tonnes 15,509 3,962 4,511 3,412 11,885

    (i) Includes MREP Nickel tonnes produced.

  • FY 21
    Stockpiles YTD Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr
    Ore tonnes 43,320 23,277 13,497 6,090
    Grade % 3.1%3.0%3.1%3.1%
    Concentrate tonnes 10,263 9,273 7,115 6,091
    Grade % 13.9%14.9%14.3%13.7%
    Contained Nickel in Stockpiles tonnes 2,772 2,079 1,442 1,023
  • FY 21 FY 22
    Financial Statistics YTD Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr YTD
    Group Production Cost/lb
    Mining Cost (*) A$/lb 3.09 3.69 3.73 3.91 3.77
    Haulage A$/lb 0.08 0.09 0.08 0.10 0.09
    Milling A$/lb 0.76 0.83 0.76 1.10 0.89
    Admin A$/lb 0.27 0.29 0.31 0.37 0.32
    Flotation Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) A$/lb 4.20 4.90 4.88 5.48 5.07
    Total Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) incl MREP A$/lb 4.23 4.95 4.87 5.52 5.10
    Cash Cost Ni in Con/lb (***) US$/lb (**) 3.16 3.63 3.55 3.99 3.71
    Exchange Rate US$ / A$ 0.75 0.73 0.73 0.72 0.73

    (*) Mining Costs are net of deferred waste costs and inventory stockpile movements.
    (**) US$ FX for Relevant Quarter is RBA ave daily rate (Mar Qtr = A$1:US$0.72)
    (***) Payable terms are not disclosed due to confidentiality conditions of the offtake agreements. Cash costs exclude royalties and concentrate logistics costs.
    Note: Grade and recovery estimates are subject to change until the final assay data are received.