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 Tsingshan Group, China’s largest stainless steel producer and BHP Billiton.
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
2018/2019 YTD Item Unit Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Total Total Ore Mined Tns 141,567 139,528 141,595 133,312 556,002 Mine Grade Ni % 4.1% 4.2% 4.3% 4.1% 4.2% Total Nickel Mined tonnes 5,868 5,851 6,066 5,423 23,208 Ore Processed (Milling/Concentrator) tonnes 156,706 154,517 146,935 152,329 610,487 Processed Grade Ni % 3.9% 4.0% 4.2% 4.0% 4.0% Average Mill Recovery % 89% 88% 88% 88% 88% Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced tonnes 5,379 5,415 5,448 5,433 21,675 Total Nickel Sold tonnes 5,018 5,386 5,189 5,890 21,483 Contained Nickel in stockpiles tonnes 4,820 4,413 4,510 3,317 Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate A$/lb 2.99 3.15 2.82 2.96 2.98 Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate US$/lb 2.19 2.26 2.01 2.07 2.13 Exchange Rate US$/A$ 0.73 0.72 0.71 0.70 0.72 Realised Nickel Price (before payability) A$/lb 7.91 7.01 8.31 7.66 7.72 2018/2019 YTD Tonnes Mined Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Total Flying Fox Ore Mined tonnes 58,699 59,309 56,386 57,213 231,607 Grade Ni % 4.0% 4.3% 4.5% 4.2% 4.2% Flying Fox Nickel Mined tonnes 2,330 2,574 2,550 2,381 9,835 Spotted Quoll Ore Mined tonnes 82,868 80,219 85,209 76,099 324,395 Grade Ni % 4.3% 4.1% 4.1% 4.0% 4.1% Spotted Quoll Nickel Mined tonnes 3,538 3,277 3,516 3,042 13,373 Total Ore Mined tonnes 141,567 139,528 141,595 133,312 556,002 Grade Ni % 4.1% 4.2% 4.3% 4.1% 4.2% Total Nickel Mined tonnes 5,868 5,851 6,066 5,423 23,208 2018/2019 YTD Tonnes Milled and Sold Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Total Total Milled Ore tonnes 156,706 154,517 146,935 152,329 610,487 Grade % 3.9% 4.0% 4.2% 4.0% 4.0% Average Recovery % 89% 88% 88% 88% 88% Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced (i) tonnes 5,379 5,415 5,448 5,433 21,675 Nickel in Concentrate Sold tonnes 5,018 5,386 5,189 5,890 21,483 2018/2019 Stockpiles Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Ore tonnes 118,549 101,455 96,114 77,098 Grade % 3.5% 3.7% 3.8% 3.8% Concentrate tonnes 4,462 4,093 5,481 2,390 Grade % 15.4% 15.6% 15.1% 15.1% Contained Nickel in Stockpiles tonnes 4,820 4,413 4,510 3,317 2018/2019 Financial Statistics Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr YTD Group Production Cost/lb Mining Cost (*) A$/lb 2.24 2.38 2.11 2.24 2.24 Haulage A$/lb 0.07 0.07 0.06 0.07 0.07 Milling A$/lb 0.49 0.51 0.48 0.46 0.48 Admin A$/lb 0.22 0.22 0.20 0.22 0.22 By Product Credits A$/lb (0.03) (0.03) (0.03) (0.03) (0.03) Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) A$/lb 2.99 3.15 2.82 2.96 2.98 Cash Cost Ni in Con/lb (***) US$/lb (**) 2.19 2.26 2.01 2.07 2.13 Exchange Rate US$ / A$ 0.73 0.72 0.71 0.70 0.72
