Tag Archives: Wood Plc

Wood gets second bite at Vermelho nickel-cobalt project development

Base metals, Energy minerals, Mineral project development, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , , , , ,

Horizonte Minerals Plc has awarded Wood Plc the principal engineering contract to undertake the feasibility study for its 100%-owned Vermelho nickel-cobalt project, in Brazil.

Vermelho is a large high-grade, long mine life, scalable resource, designed to be a low-cost producer of nickel and cobalt for the battery industry, Horizonte says. The Vermelho FS contract award is another key milestone for Horizonte as it advances towards its long-term objective of becoming a 60,000 t/y nickel producer, following the start of construction at Araguaia, its ferronickel project, early this year, which is on schedule to produce first nickel in the March quarter of 2024.

Vermelho is designed to produce 25,000 t/y of nickel and 1,250 t/y of cobalt over a 38-year mine life. The prefeasibility study (dated October 2019) estimated a post-tax internal rate of return of 38.6% using a nickel price of $23,000/t.

Wood, Horizonte says, is a global leader in project delivery, engineering and technical services with experience across a number of the major high pressure leach nickel operations globally.

Jeremy Martin, CEO of Horizonte Minerals, said: “The commencement of the feasibility study is an important step forward in unlocking Vermelho’s significant value. There are very few nickel resources of this scale and quality at an advanced stage of development, leaving Vermelho well positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for sustainable critical metals.

“Vermelho is located in the Carajás mining district, an area that features well-developed infrastructure and hydroelectric power. The project is designed to produce nickel in intermediate or refined form and will be a globally significant, non-conflict, ethical source of cobalt.

“Araguaia and Vermelho have a combined inventory of over 4 Mt of nickel. By leveraging the synergies of these two world-class projects, located within trucking distance of each other in a stable and pro mining jurisdiction, Horizonte is well positioned to deliver its growth target of producing 60,000 t of nickel per year, placing the company amongst the global leaders in primary nickel production outside Indonesia.”

Wood (formerly GRD Minproc) undertook a successful Vermelho feasibility study for Vale between 2003 and 2006. In this regard, it already has a detailed understanding of the project, enabling it to leverage this existing knowledge during the process of producing this updated study for Horizonte, the company said.

Wood to investigate ISR potential of Phoenix uranium deposit in Wheeler River JV FS

Energy minerals, Environmental, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , , , ,

Denison Mines Corp says it has selected engineering firm Wood PLC to lead and author a feasibility study for the in-situ recovery (ISR) mining operation proposed for the Phoenix uranium deposit in the Athabasca Basin of Canada, part of the Wheeler River Joint Venture (WRJV) project.

The completion of the study is, Denison says, a critical step in the progression of the project and is intended to advance de-risking efforts to the point where the company and the WRJV will be able to make a definitive development decision.

Denison has an effective 95% ownership interest in Wheeler River (90% directly, and 5% indirectly through a 50% ownership in JCU), which has combined indicated mineral resources of 132.1 MIb of U3O8 (1.8 Mt at an average grade of 3.3% U3O8), plus combined inferred mineral resources of 3 MIb of U3O8 (82,000 t at an average grade of 1.7% U3O8).

Key objectives of the study are expected to include:

  • Environmental stewardship: extensive planning and technical work undertaken as part of the ongoing Environmental Assessment (EA), including applicable feedback from consultation efforts with various interested parties, is expected to be incorporated into the feasibility study project designs to support Denison’s aspiration of achieving a superior standard of environmental stewardship that meets and exceeds the anticipated environmental expectations of regulators and aligns with the interests of local Indigenous communities;
  • Updated estimate of mineral resources: mineral resources for Phoenix were last estimated in 2018. Since then, additional drilling has been completed in and around the Phoenix deposit as part of various ISR field tests, including drill hole GWR-045 (22% eU3O8 over 8.6 m), and exploration drilling. The updated mineral resource estimate will form the basis for mine planning in the study;
  • Mine design optimisation: feasibility study mine design is expected to reflect the decision to adopt a freeze wall configuration for containment of the ISR well field, as well as the results from multiple field test programs and extensive hydrogeological modelling exercises, which have provided various opportunities to optimise other elements of the project – including well pattern designs, permeability enhancement strategies, and both construction and production schedules;
  • Processing plant optimization: feasibility study process plant design is expected to reflect the decision to increase the ISR mining uranium head-grade to 15 g/L, as well as the results from extensive metallurgical laboratory studies designed to optimize the mineral processing aspects of the project; and
  • Class 3 capital cost estimate: the feasibility study is also intended to provide the level of engineering design necessary to support a Class 3 capital cost estimate (AACE international standard with an accuracy of -15% /+25%), which is expected to provide a basis to confirm the economic potential of the project highlighted in the prefeasibility study completed in 2018.

The 2018 prefeasibility study considered the potential economic merit of developing the Phoenix deposit as an ISR operation and the Gryphon deposit as a conventional underground mining operation. Taken together, the project was estimated to have mine production of 109.4 Mib of U3O8 over a 14-year mine life.

David Cates, Denison’s President & CEO, said: “The ISR de-risking activities we’ve completed since the publication of the prefeasibility study for Wheeler River in 2018 have been designed to support the completion of a future feasibility study, and the results to date have further confirmed the technical viability of the project – leading to the decision to advance the project and initiate the formal feasibility study process.

“During this de-risking phase, we have been able to verify orebody permeability and the leachability of high-grade uranium in conditions representative of an ISR mining setting. We’ve also engineered an improved containment design using a more conventional ground freezing approach. Based on the results of field programs and metallurgical lab testing completed over the last three years, we are confident that the project is ready to advance into a full feasibility study. Taken together with the selection of globally recognised engineering firm Wood, the decision to launch the formal feasibility study process for Phoenix represents another important step towards achieving our objective of bringing low-cost ISR mining to the high-grade uranium deposits of the Athabasca Basin.”

Wood to scope out Angularli uranium project in Australia

Energy minerals, Metallurgy, Mineral exploration, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , ,

Wood has been contracted by ASX-listed Vimy Resources to carry out the engineering scoping study for the Angularli uranium project in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Work has already commenced on the study, with completion expected by the end of the year, Vimy said.

Angulari is located in the King River-Wellington Range tenement group and owned 75:25 by Vimy Resources and a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. It currently has an inferred resource of 910,000 t at 1.3% U3O8 for 26 MIb of contained uranium.

The conceptual mine development approach for Angularli to be used as a basis for the scoping study (pictured) is similar in approach to the historical Nabarlek mine, 65 km from Angularli. Nabarlek operated successfully in 1980-1988 and produced 24 Mlb of uranium oxide from 550,000 t of ore at an average grade of 1.84% U3O8. It has since been successfully decommissioned and the site fully rehabilitated.

Metallurgical test work on Angularli is currently underway at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and will be completed this month. Results to date have shown uranium extraction of 98.5% at a sulphuric acid consumption of 14 kg/t, and an oxidant consumption of 1.4 kg/t hydrogen peroxide.

Metallurgical studies on drill core obtained during the resource estimate have also indicated there is potential for the direct precipitation process to be technically feasible at Angularli, while the ore may also be amenable to ore sorting.

Mike Young, managing director and CEO of Vimy Resources, said: “The high-grade nature of the Angularli deposit provides us with the opportunity to develop a Tier One asset, with the potential to be profitable in any uranium market.”