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
Item Unit 2019/2020 2018/2019 Sep Qtr Jun Qtr Mar Qtr Dec Qtr Total Ore Mined tonnes 147,356 133,312 141,595 139,528 Mine Grade Ni % 3.90% 4.10% 4.30% 4.20% Total Nickel Mined tonnes 5,805 5,423 6,066 5,851 Ore Processed (Milling/Concentrator) tonnes 149,729 152,329 146,935 154,517 Processed Grade Ni % 3.90% 4.00% 4.20% 4.00% Average Processing Recovery % 89% 88% 88% 88% Total Nickel in Concentrate tonnes 5,259 5,433 5,448 5,415 Total Nickel Sold tonnes 5,051 5,890 5,189 5,386 Contained Nickel in Stockpiles tonnes 3,315 3,317 4,510 4,413 Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate A$/lb 3.06 2.96 2.82 3.15 Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate US$/lb 2.09 2.07 2.01 2.26 Exchange Rate US$/A$ 0.69 0.7 0.71 0.72 Net Nickel Price (before payability applied) A$/lb 11.5 8.09(*) 8.31 7.01 Tonnes mined Unit 2019/2020 2018/2019 Sep Qtr Jun Qtr Mar Qtr Dec Qtr Flying Fox Ore Mined tonnes 61,414 57,213 56,386 59,309 Grade Ni% 3.70% 4.20% 4.50% 4.30% Flying Fox Nickel Mined tonnes 2,280 2,381 2,550 2,574 Spotted Quoll Ore Mined Tonnes 85,942 76,099 85,209 80,219 Grade Ni% 4.10% 4.00% 4.10% 4.10% Spotted Quoll Nickel Mined Tonnes 3,525 3,042 3,516 3,277 Total Ore Mined Tonnes 147,356 133,312 141,595 139,528 Grade Ni% 3.90% 4.10% 4.30% 4.20% Total Nickel Mined Tonnes 5,805 5,423 6,066 5,851 Tonnes milled Unit 2018/2019 2019/2020 Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr Total Milled Ore tonnes 154,517 146,935 152,329 149,729 Grade % 4.00% 4.20% 4.00% 3.90% Ave. Recovery % 88% 88% 88% 89% Nickel in Concentrate Produced (i) tonnes 5,415 5,448 5,433 5,259 Nickel in Concentrate Sold tonnes 5,386 5,189 5,890 5,051 Stockpiles Unit 2019/2020 2018/2019 Sep Qtr Jun Qtr Mar Qtr Dec Qtr Ore tonnes 75,638 77,098 96,114 101,455 Grade % 3.80% 3.80% 3.80% 3.70% Concentrate tonnes 2,875 2,390 5,481 4,093 Grade % 15.80% 15.10% 15.10% 15.60% Contained Nickel in Stockpiles tonnes 3,315 3,317 4,510 4,413 Financial Statistics Unit 2019/2020 2018/2019 Sep Qtr Jun Qtr Mar Qtr Dec Qtr Group Production Cost/lb Mining Cost (*) A$/lb 2.26 2.24 2.11 2.38 Haulage A$/lb 0.06 0.07 0.06 0.07 Milling A$/lb 0.55 0.46 0.48 0.51 Admin A$/lb 0.22 0.22 0.2 0.22 By Product Credits A$/lb -0.03 -0.03 -0.03 -0.03 Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) A$/lb 3.06 2.96 2.82 3.15 Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) US$/lb(**) 2.09 2.07 2.01 2.26 Exchange Rate US$ / A$ 0.69 0.7 0.71 0.72
