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

  • 2020/2021 2021/2022
    Item Unit Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr
    Total Ore Mined Tns 124,459 117,613 143,503 117,009
    Mine Grade Ni % 2.8%3.6%3.4%3.2%
    Total Nickel Mined tonnes 3,518 4,236 4,911 3,741
    Ore Processed (Milling/Concentrator) tonnes 145,996 139,025 147,236 148,124
    Processed Grade Ni % 2.9%3.5%3.5%3.1%
    Average Processing Recovery % 84%89%90%84%
    Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced tonnes 3,535 4,267 4,622 3,804
    Total Nickel Sold tonnes 3,336 3,962 4,147 3,962
    Contained Nickel in stockpiles tonnes 2,633 2,429 2,772 2,073
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate A$/lb 4.72 4.00 3.80 4.90
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate inc MREP A$/lb 4.67 4.07 3.84 4.95
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate (inc MREP) US$/lb 3.41 3.15 2.96 3.63
    Exchange Rate US$/A$ 0.73 0.77 0.77 0.73
    Realised Nickel Price (before payability) A$/lb 10.52 10.07 10.49 11.90
  • 2020/2021 2021/2022
    Tonnes Mined Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr
    Flying Fox
    High Grade Ore Mined tonnes 38,255 41,909 51,950 29,967
    Grade Ni % 2.5%3.8%3.7%3.1%
    Low Grade Ore Mined tonnes 13,721
    Grade Ni % 1.2%
    Flying Fox Nickel Mined tonnes 939 1,601 1,930 1,099
    Spotted Quoll
    Ore Mined tonnes 86,204 75,704 91,553 73,321
    Grade Ni % 3.0%3.5%3.3%3.6%
    Spotted Quoll Nickel Mined tonnes 2,579 2,635 2,981 2,642
    Total Ore Mined tonnes 124,459 117,613 143,503 117,009
    Grade Ni % 2.8%3.6%3.4%3.2%
    Total Nickel Mined tonnes 3,518 4,236 4,911 3,741
  • 2020/2021 2021/2022
    Tonnes Milled and Sold Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr
    Total Milled Ore tonnes 145,996 139,025 147,236 148,124
    Grade % 2.9%3.5%3.5%3.1%
    Average Recovery % 84%89%90%84%
    Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced (ⁱ) tonnes 3,535 4,267 4,622 3,804
    Nickel in Concentrate Sold tonnes 3,336 3,962 4,147 3,962

    (i) Includes MREP Nickel tonnes produced.

  • Stockpiles Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr
    Ore tonnes 60,659 43,103 43,320 23,277
    Grade % 3.4%3.5%3.1%3.0%
    Concentrate tonnes 3,911 6,367 10,263 9,273
    Grade % 15.2%14.4%13.9%14.9%
    Contained Nickel in Stockpiles tonnes 2,633 2,429 2,772 2,073
  • 2020/2021 2021/2022
    Financial Statistics Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr
    Group Production Cost/lb
    Mining Cost (*) A$/lb 3.46 2.95 2.83 3.69
    Haulage A$/lb 0.09 0.07 0.07 0.09
    Milling A$/lb 0.85 0.72 0.66 0.83
    Admin A$/lb 0.32 0.26 0.24 0.29
    Flotation Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) A$/lb 4.72 4.00 3.80 4.90
    Total Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) incl MREP A$/lb 4.67 4.07 3.84 4.95
    Cash Cost Ni in Con/lb (***) US$/lb (**) 3.41 3.15 2.96 3.63
    Exchange Rate US$ / A$ 0.73 0.77 0.77 0.73

    (*) Mining Costs are net of deferred waste costs and inventory stockpile movements.
    (**) US$ FX for Relevant Quarter is RBA ave daily rate (Sep Qtr = A$1:US$0.73)
    (***) 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.