Overview
Stage | Restarting |
Mine Type | Open Pit & Underground |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Longhole stoping
- Cemented backfill
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 4 years (as of Jan 1, 2022) |
Black Swan has been on care and maintenance since 2009 following the global downturn. The Black Swan tenements, mines, plant and equipment remain in good standing.
November 21, 2022 - The Poseidon board and management are pleased to provide the outcomes from the Black Swan Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) for a 1.1Mtpa feed to produce smelter grade concentrate scenario (Phase 1 Black Swan Project).
The Company continues to progress growth opportunities including: • the Feasibility Study on the 2.2Mtpa feed option to produce rougher concentrate (Phase 2 Black Swan Project). • a 10,000 metre resource drilling program at Black Swan to convert more Inferred BSD resource to Indicated, supporting the 2.2Mtpa feed scenario or increasing reserves for the Phase 1 Project. |
Latest News | Poseidon Nickel Achieves Substantial 48% Increase in Black Swan Resources June 7, 2023 |
Source:
p. 15,49,82, 92,106
Poseidon Nickel Ltd. acquired the Black Swan Operations assets in March 2015. The Poseidon is the 100% legal and beneficial owner of all Black Swan tenements.
The Black Swan tenements is registered to Poseidon Nickel Atlantis Operations Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Poseidon Nickel Ltd, following the purchase of the assets.
Contractors
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Summary:
Mineralisation was first discovered in the Black Swan area during the nickel boom of the late 1960s. By 1972, drilling had defined a nickel sulphide resource, which is now recognised as the BSD orebody.
Nickel sulphide mineralisation at Black Swan is hosted by the Black Swan Komatiite Complex (BSKC), a 3.5 km long by 0.6 km thick arcuate lens of olivine cumulate and spinifex-textured komatiite flows. The complex is enclosed within a broad NE dipping sequence of intermediate felsic lavas and associated volcaniclastics. Graphitic black shales have been recognised within the enclosing felsic sequence, approximately 700 metres above and below the BSKC. The BSKC and enclosing felsic volcanic sequence face and dip steeply towards the NE. Except for several small areas of sub-outcrop, a thin veneer of lateritic red soil covers the BSKC.
The northern and southern tails of the BSKC thin and terminate rapidly in a complex series of interdigitating felsic and komatiite horizons. Where this occurs, the individual felsic horizons are typically of limited extent both along strike and down plunge. The southern tail of the complex is more pronounced and extends over approximately 1 km and is overlain by up to three discrete thin (spinifex textured) komatiite flows.
Large areas of the BSKC have been subjected to an intense carbonation event, which altered rocks of an earlier serpentinisation event to talc–carbonate ± quartz-sericite assemblages, and at the s ........

Mining Methods
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
- Longhole stoping
- Cemented backfill
Summary:
Poseidon continues planning for a future restart of the Black Swan Operations (BSO) to mine and process material from the Black Swan disseminated (BSD) open pit, Silver Swan and Golden Swan high-grade underground mines, Silver Swan tailings and on existing surface stockpiles (disseminated nickel sulphide serpentinite) through the existing concentrator and associated infrastructure. The Project is intended to operate at a de-rated processing capacity of 1.1Mtpa to align with the available processing inventory of 5.0Mt, presenting a post development Project life of four years. Plant refurbishment and mine development are estimated to occur over an 11-month period.
Open Pit Mining
The Black Swan open pit is planned to be mined using a conventional diesel fleet of 120t excavators and 90t trucks. The minimum mining widths adopted are considered adequate given the geometry of the open pit designs to achieve full access and manoeuvrability for the proposed mining fleets. A 20 metre minimum mining width was chosen for the open pit design and physical cut-back distance from the existing pit void.
An open pit optimisation was established using Datamine’s NPV Scheduler. The optimisation considered Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource material in its economic evaluation.
The Mineral Resource model was prepared for open pit optimisation by adding cost, recovery, royalties, and revenue drivers to individual blocks within the model usin ........

Source:

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Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Projected Production:
Commodity | Product | Units | LOM |
Nickel
|
Metal in concentrate
|
kt
| 30 |
Nickel
|
Concentrate
|
kt
| 200 |
Operational Metrics:
Metrics | |
Waste tonnes, LOM
| ......  |
Ore tonnes mined, LOM
| ......  |
Total tonnes mined, LOM
| ......  |
Tonnes processed, LOM
| ......  |
Annual processing capacity
| ......  |
Mining scale, tpd
| ......  |
* According to 2022 study.
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Reserves at November 21, 2022:
Mineral Resources: Black Swan Disseminated - cut-off grade of 0.4% Ni; Silver Swan Section - cut-off grade of 1.0% Ni; Golden Swan Section - cut-off grade of 1.0% Ni.
Ore Reserves of Black Swan Project: The fully costed stoping cut-off grade (COG) applied for SS was 2.5% Ni, and the incremental stoping COG was 2.1% Ni. For GS the fully costed stoping COG applied was 2.4% Ni and the incremental stoping COG was 2.1% Ni based on an analysis done in late 2021 – it was not updated for this report.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Proven
|
579 kt
|
Nickel
|
0.7 %
|
4.2 kt
|
Probable
|
2,887 kt
|
Nickel
|
1.1 %
|
30.7 kt
|
Proven & Probable
|
3,466 kt
|
Nickel
|
1 %
|
34.9 kt
|
Measured & Indicated
|
12,825 kt
|
Nickel
|
0.86 %
|
109,750 t
|
Inferred
|
18,660 kt
|
Nickel
|
0.56 %
|
104,440 t
|
Total Resource
|
31,480 kt
|
Nickel
|
0.68 %
|
214,190 t
|
Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of November 21, 2022:
HME Type | Size |
Excavator
|
120 t
|
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|
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|
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