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 Jun Qtr Total
    Total Ore Mined Tns 137,280 124,459 117,613 143,503 522,855
    Mine Grade Ni % 3.0%2.8%3.6%3.4%3.2%
    Total Nickel Mined tonnes 4,147 3,518 4,236 4,911 16,812
    Ore Processed (Milling/Concentrator) tonnes 148,801 145,996 139,025 147,236 581,058
    Processed Grade Ni % 3.0%2.9%3.5%3.5%3.2%
    Average Processing Recovery % 85%84%89%90%87%
    Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced tonnes 3,756 3,535 4,267 4,622 16,180
    Total Nickel Sold tonnes 4,064 3,336 3,962 4,147 15,509
    Contained Nickel in stockpiles tonnes 3,096 2,633 2,429 2,772
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate A$/lb 4.44 4.72 4.00 3.74 4.19
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate inc MREP A$/lb 4.46 4.67 4.07 3.79 4.21
    Cash Cost Nickel in Concentrate (inc MREP) US$/lb 3.17 3.41 3.15 2.92 3.15
    Exchange Rate US$/A$ 0.71 0.73 0.77 0.77 0.75
    Realised Nickel Price (before payability) A$/lb 9.28 10.52 10.07 10.42 10.06
  • 2020/2021 YTD
    Tonnes Mined Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Total
    Flying Fox
    Ore Mined tonnes 44,359 38,255 41,909 51,950 176,473
    Grade Ni % 2.9%2.5%3.8%3.7%3.3%
    Flying Fox Nickel Mined tonnes 1,269 939 1,601 1,930 5,739
    Spotted Quoll
    Ore Mined tonnes 92,921 86,204 75,704 91,553 346,382
    Grade Ni % 3.1%3.0%3.5%3.3%3.2%
    Spotted Quoll Nickel Mined tonnes 2,878 2,579 2,635 2,981 11,073
    Total Ore Mined tonnes 137,280 124,459 117,613 143,503 522,855
    Grade Ni % 3.0%2.8%3.6%3.4%3.2%
    Total Nickel Mined tonnes 4,147 3,518 4,236 4,911 16,812
  • 2020/2021 YTD
    Tonnes Milled and Sold Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr Total
    Total Milled Ore tonnes 148,801 145,996 139,025 147,236 581,058
    Grade % 3.0%2.9%3.5%3.5%3.2%
    Average Recovery % 85%84%89%90%87%
    Total Nickel in Concentrate Produced (ⁱ) tonnes 3,756 3,535 4,267 4,622 16,180
    Nickel in Concentrate Sold tonnes 4,064 3,336 3,962 4,147 15,509

    (i) Includes MREP Nickel tonnes produced.

  • Stockpiles Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr
    Ore tonnes 78,615 60,659 43,103 43,320
    Grade % 3.4%3.4%3.5%3.1%
    Concentrate tonnes 2,575 3,911 6,367 10,263
    Grade % 15.9%15.2%14.4%13.9%
    Contained Nickel in Stockpiles tonnes 3,096 2,633 2,429 2,772
  • 2020/2021
    Financial Statistics Sep Qtr Dec Qtr Mar Qtr Jun Qtr YTD
    Group Production Cost/lb
    Mining Cost (*) A$/lb 3.24 3.46 2.95 2.83 3.09
    Haulage A$/lb 0.08 0.09 0.07 0.07 0.08
    Milling A$/lb 0.83 0.85 0.72 0.62 0.75
    Admin A$/lb 0.29 0.32 0.26 0.22 0.27
    Flotation Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) A$/lb 4.44 4.72 4.00 3.74 4.19
    Total Cash Cost Ni in Con (***) incl MREP A$/lb 4.46 4.67 4.07 3.79 4.21
    Cash Cost Ni in Con/lb (***) US$/lb (**) 3.17 3.41 3.15 2.92 3.15
    Exchange Rate US$ / A$ 0.71 0.73 0.77 0.77 0.75

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