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 Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Total
    Total Ore Mined Tns 142,056 160,858 137,280 124,459 261,739
    Mine Grade Ni % 4.2%3.6%3.0%2.8%2.9%
    Total Nickel Mined tonnes 5,896 5,841 4,147 3,518 7,665
    Ore Processed (Milling/Concentrator) tonnes 142,200 151,302 148,801 145,996 294,797
    Processed Grade Ni % 4.1%3.8%3.0%2.9%2.9%
    Average Processing Recovery % 89%89%85%84%84%
    Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced tonnes 5,154 5,114 3,756 3,535 7,291
    Total Nickel Sold tonnes 6,038 4,777 4,064 3,336 7,400
    Contained Nickel in stockpiles tonnes 3,456 3,738 3,096 2,633
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate A$/lb 3.07 3.17 4.44 4.72 4.59
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate inc MREP A$/lb 3.14 3.23 4.46 4.67 4.56
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate (inc MREP) US$/lb 2.07 2.12 3.17 3.41 3.29
    Exchange Rate US$/A$ 0.66 0.66 0.71 0.73 0.72
    Realised Nickel Price (before payability) A$/lb 8.40 8.64 9.28 10.31 9.75
  • 2020/2021 YTD
    Tonnes Mined Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Total
    Flying Fox
    Ore Mined tonnes 63,501 69,398 44,359 38,255 82,614
    Grade Ni % 4.3%3.4%2.9%2.5%2.7%
    Flying Fox Nickel Mined tonnes 2,754 2,343 1,269 939 2,208
    Spotted Quoll
    Ore Mined tonnes 78,555 91,460 92,921 86,204 179,125
    Grade Ni % 4.0%3.8%3.1%3.0%3.0%
    Spotted Quoll Nickel Mined tonnes 3,142 3,498 2,878 2,579 5,457
    Total Ore Mined tonnes 142,056 160,858 137,280 124,459 261,739
    Grade Ni % 4.2%3.6%3.0%2.8%2.9%
    Total Nickel Mined tonnes 5,896 5,841 4,147 3,518 7,665
  • 2020/2021 YTD
    Tonnes Milled and Sold Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Total
    Total Milled Ore tonnes 142,200 151,302 148,801 145,996 294,797
    Grade % 4.1%3.8%3.0%2.9%2.9%
    Average Recovery % 89%89%85%84%84%
    Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced (ⁱ) tonnes 5,154 5,114 3,756 3,535 7,291
    Nickel in Concentrate Sold tonnes 6,038 4,777 4,064 3,336 7,400

    (i) Includes MREP Nickel tonnes produced.

  • Stockpiles Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr Dec Qtr
    Ore tonnes 80,581 90,136 78,615 60,659
    Grade % 3.6%3.3%3.4%3.4%
    Concentrate tonnes 3,668 4,987 2,575 3,911
    Grade % 15.4%15.2%15.9%15.2%
    Contained Nickel in Stockpiles tonnes 3,456 3,738 3,096 2,633
  • 2020/2021
    Financial Statistics Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Sep Qtr Dec Qtr YTD
    Group Production Cost/lb
    Mining Cost (*) A$/lb 2.25 2.34 3.24 3.46 3.35
    Haulage A$/lb 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.09
    Milling A$/lb 0.55 0.53 0.83 0.85 0.84
    Admin A$/lb 0.22 0.23 0.29 0.32 0.31
    By Product Credits A$/lb (0.01) - - - -
    Flotation Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) A$/lb 3.07 3.17 4.44 4.72 4.59
    Total Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) incl MREP A$/lb 3.14 3.23 4.46 4.67 4.56
    Cash Cost Ni in Con/lb (***) US$/lb (**) 2.07 2.12 3.17 3.41 3.29
    Exchange Rate US$ / A$ 0.66 0.66 0.71 0.73 0.72

    (*) Mining Costs are net of deferred waste costs and inventory stockpile movements.
    (**) US$ FX for Relevant Quarter is RBA ave daily rate (Dec 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.