Ardea Resources’ ongoing Prefeasibility Study over the Goongarrie Hub of deposits has found the fine goethite rich fraction a viable source of atmospheric leach feed, adding new units of nickel and cobalt at zero cost to its fully owned Kalgoorlie Nickel Project in Western Australia.
It brings the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project’s global estimate to now stand at a hefty 6.1Mt of contained nickel and 386kt of contained cobalt to an asset awarded Major Project Status by the Australian Federal Government.
Ardea Managing Director and Chief Executive Andrew Penkethman said that the technical work streams for the PFS are now completed and ready for sign-off.
Whilst completing the open pit optimisations of the resource models, it was apparent that additional tonnes of nickel-cobalt bearing Mineralised Neutraliser below the 0.5% nickel reporting grade would be recovered within the mine plan,” Mr Penkethman said.
“This extra neutralising material contributes additional project value through its Magnesite component being used in the leaching circuit for acid neutralisation, to which it adds nickel-cobalt units at nil cost,” he added.
“Additionally, the Mineralised Neutraliser Fines component contribute to the nickel-cobalt production as the dominant feed for the Atmospheric Leach circuit. This excellent R&D outcome is protected with an international patent application recently lodged.”
Kalgoorlie nickel
Ardea see its flagship asset sitting within the best mining jurisdiction in the world, and Goongarrie as the most advanced project within, and while increased Indonesian output has put downward pressure on nickel prices, the lithium-ion battery sector demands the kind of sustainable and ethical supply which is simply unachievable in the tropics.
Investors in a $1 billion Indonesian processing facility cited the project as a commitment to fighting climate change, but an initial solution to a 4 million metric tonne toxic waste problem was to dump it straight in the ocean and it is unclear whether on-ground alternatives will prove any more ethical.
But it is a problem Ardea doesn’t face in the arid and geopolitically accepted lands of Kalgooorlie, and the company stands primed for mining operations all on granted mining leases with Native Title agreements in place as it closes out the PFS.
Multi-commodity opportunity
While its laterite nickel and cobalt deposits are the clear path for Ardea, it also has an ionic clay rare earth discovery on its hands, and exploration has also identified rare earth and lithium-caesium-tantalum settings in association with the nickel laterite.
Nickel sulphides are also mined extensively throughout the region, and Ardea see its tenure as highly prospective for the deeper, higher-grade deposits in the style of both Kambalda and Nova-Julimar, with any discoveries holding the potential for supplementary processing at Goongarrie.
