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 YTD Item Unit Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Total Total Ore Mined Tns 137,280 124,459 117,613 379,352 Mine Grade Ni % 3.0% 2.8% 3.6% 3.1% Total Nickel Mined tonnes 4,147 3,518 4,236 11,901 Ore Processed (Milling/Concentrator) tonnes 148,801 145,996 139,025 433,822 Processed Grade Ni % 3.0% 2.9% 3.5% 3.1% Average Processing Recovery % 85% 84% 89% 86% Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced tonnes 3,756 3,535 4,267 11,558 Total Nickel Sold tonnes 4,064 3,336 3,962 11,362 Contained Nickel in stockpiles tonnes 3,096 2,633 2,429 Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate A$/lb 4.44 4.72 4.00 4.37 Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate inc MREP A$/lb 4.46 4.67 4.07 4.38 Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate (inc MREP) US$/lb 3.17 3.41 3.15 3.24 Exchange Rate US$/A$ 0.71 0.73 0.77 0.74 Realised Nickel Price (before payability) A$/lb 9.28 10.52 10.07 9.92 2020/2021 YTD Tonnes Mined Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Total Flying Fox Ore Mined tonnes 44,359 38,255 41,909 124,523 Grade Ni % 2.9% 2.5% 3.8% 3.1% Flying Fox Nickel Mined tonnes 1,269 939 1,601 3,809 Spotted Quoll Ore Mined tonnes 92,921 86,204 75,704 254,829 Grade Ni % 3.1% 3.0% 3.5% 3.2% Spotted Quoll Nickel Mined tonnes 2,878 2,579 2,635 8,092 Total Ore Mined tonnes 137,280 124,459 117,613 379,352 Grade Ni % 3.0% 2.8% 3.6% 3.1% Total Nickel Mined tonnes 4,147 3,518 4,236 11,901 2020/2021 YTD Tonnes Milled and Sold Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Total Total Milled Ore tonnes 148,801 145,996 139,025 433,822 Grade % 3.0% 2.9% 3.5% 3.1% Average Recovery % 85% 84% 89% 86% Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced (ⁱ) tonnes 3,756 3,535 4,267 11,558 Nickel in Concentrate Sold tonnes 4,064 3,336 3,962 11,362 (i) Includes MREP Nickel tonnes produced.
Stockpiles Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Ore tonnes 78,615 60,659 43,103 Grade % 3.4% 3.4% 3.5% Concentrate tonnes 2,575 3,911 6,367 Grade % 15.9% 15.2% 14.4% Contained Nickel in Stockpiles tonnes 3,096 2,633 2,429 2020/2021 Financial Statistics Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr YTD Group Production Cost/lb Mining Cost (*) A$/lb 3.24 3.46 2.95 3.20 Haulage A$/lb 0.08 0.09 0.07 0.08 Milling A$/lb 0.83 0.85 0.72 0.80 Admin A$/lb 0.29 0.32 0.26 0.29 Flotation Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) A$/lb 4.44 4.72 4.00 4.37 Total Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) incl MREP A$/lb 4.46 4.67 4.07 4.38 Cash Cost Ni in Con/lb (***) US$/lb (**) 3.17 3.41 3.15 3.24 Exchange Rate US$ / A$ 0.71 0.73 0.77 0.74 (*) 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$0.77)
(***) 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.