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 ........

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 ........

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