GR Engineering Services has entered into an EPC contract with Western Areas Ltd associated with the Forrestania mill recovery enhancement project in Western Australia. The contract has been entered into on a guaranteed maximum price basis. Detailed engineering and procurement will commence immediately, with revenue of approximately A$7 million to be realised in the first half of FY2016. The decision to proceed with the six month construction phase of the project is likely be made by Western Areas later this financial year, to facilitate commissioning and ramp-up of the project in July 2016. The total value of the work under the contract is approximately A$22 million, inclusive of those works associated with construction of the Project.

GR Engineering’s Managing Director, Geoff Jones, commented that: “It is pleasing to continue our long association with Western Areas and its Cosmic Boy processing facility in Forrestania. The Cosmic Boy processing plant was designed and constructed by GR Engineering in 2009 and was subsequently upgraded by the Company in 2010. GR Engineering’s ability to secure repeat business such as this supports its reputation of delivering successful project outcomes with dependability and reliability.”

At its Forrestania operations, Western Areas mines two of the highest grade operating nickel mines in the world, Flying Fox and Spotted Quoll. The Cosmic Boy concentrator treats the high-grade ore and produces nickel concentrate for sale.

Cosmic Boy produces a consistent nickel concentrate product, grading approximately 14% Ni. Concentrate produced from the Forrestania project is characterised by low impurities such as magnesium which makes it more desirable to smelters. Current capacity allows for the treatment of 600,000 t/y of ore, with the potential to expand to 1 Mt/y. 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. Recovery rates for Cosmic Boy currently average between 90% and 93%.