Ardea Resources Limited (ASX:ARL) has provided an updated JORC Code (2012) compliant mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Goongarrie Hub nickel-cobalt deposits within the company’s Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP).
The KNP global MRE (using a 0.5% Ni cut-off grade) now stands at 854Mt at 0.71% Ni and 0.045% Co for 6.1Mt of contained nickel and 386Kt of contained cobalt.
The KNP is wholly-owned by Ardea and the Goongarrie Hub is undergoing a PFS for an open pit mining operation feeding a 3Mtpa high pressure acid leach (HPAL) and 0.5Mtpa atmospheric leach (AL) circuit using proven technology to produce mixed hydroxide product (MHP) for the lithium-ion battery (LIB) sector.
The technical work streams of the PFS have now been completed and is undergoing a final review by the competent persons. Upon finalization and sign off, expected to be in early July, Ardea will release the PFS by announcement on the ASX. The Goongarrie Hub is a subset within the KNP. The deposits within the Goongarrie Hub that were considered in the PFS comprise from south to north on the Goongarrie Line the Scotia Dam (SD), Big Four (BF), Goongarrie South (GS), and Goongarrie Hill (GH) deposits, as well as the satellite deposits Highway (HW) and Siberia North (SN).
Additionally, Ardea has stated that other Goongarrie Hub deposits (Ghost Rocks, Siberia South, and Black Range) have at this stage not been included in the PFS. As part of the PFS, the Goongarrie Hub MRE was re-evaluated to consider the mineralized neutralizer (MN) that is captured in optimized open pits, with a grade of less than the 0.5% nickel MRE reporting grade.
Once this material has been screened, the coarse magnesium rich magnesite saprock has been demonstrated to be a viable source of neutralizer and the fine goethite rich fraction a viable source of AL feed. A key component of the PFS for the KNP Goongarrie Hub has been focused on material types to allow the nickel-cobalt mineralization to be variously matched to the HPAL, atmospheric leach (AL), and MN circuits, maximizing resource utilization for a well understood and proven flowsheet.
To find out more, please visit www.ardearesources.com.au
