The RNO deposits are characteristic of nickel laterite deposits formed in tropical conditions (high rainfall and warm temperatures) of weathered and serpentinised olivine rich ultramafic rocks over long periods of time (greater than 1 million years - Golichtly, 1981). The high rain fall and warm temperatures increase the kinetics of the weathering process. The primary Ni content of these rocks is typically between 0.2 and 0.4%.

The Bandalup Ultramafics dominate the RNO area with a strike length of approximately 45 km and are typically between 500 m to 3000 m wide. The host rocks are comprised of a serpentinised (greenschist facies metamorphism) komatiite complex with rare interflow sedimentary units; the primary ultramafic rock was dunitic in composition. The serpentinite typically exhibits pseudomorphs of mesocumulate to accumulate olivine textures and secondary magnetite. The sequence has been altered in areas with overprinting carbonate rich rocks, mostly in the saprolite. The serpentinite sequence dips at about 50 degrees to the west. The Bandalup sequence is in turn bound by:
- Metabasalt and metadolerite members of the Maydon basalt; and
- Gneissic granitoids of monzogranodiorite to granodiorite composition.

The Shoemaker-Levy and Hale-Bopp Archean strata have been intruded by a series of stacked typically northeast trending sub-vertical Proterozoic dolerite dykes. The dykes are often associated with faulting. Late stage cross cutting dykes are evident at some of the other deposits but not to the same extent. The Hale-Bopp and to a lesser extent Shoemaker-Levy deposits are also cut in places by narrow discrete talc dominated shear zones typically associated with faulting.

Ravensthorpe Nickel Laterite Mineralisation
The RNO Nickel laterite deposits are residual products formed by the pervasive weathering of Bandalup serpentinite rocks during the Cretaceous period (wet humid climate). The weathering/leaching process has resulted in horizontally defined deposits with four typical layers being overburden, limonite and saprolite developed over altered/weathered saprolitic rock (saprock) grading to bedrock. The degree of layer development and the extent of any transition zones are dependent on the local conditions and may be influenced by geochemical characteristics of the protolith. At RNO the laterisation process stopped as the climate started to become increasingly arid in the Tertiary period after which the laterite became eroded and covered in transported sediments. This is why the overburden layer is largely barren in terms of Ni content.

The weathering results in a volume reduction of the rock mass as Mg, Si and other soluble components are removed (primary minerals are replaced by more stable secondary phases). The limonite layer is composed predominantly of iron oxides that are the residual product of the laterisation of ultramafic/serpentinite rocks. Nickel is usually leached from olivine or its metamorphosed derivative, serpentine and is concentrated in the form of nickel silicates and or in iron and manganese oxides. Some Ni is hosted in green smectite clays however this style of mineralisation makes up only a few percent of the total number of drilled metres at RNO.

The background concentration of Ni in the RNO serpentinite typically ranges from about 0.1 to 0.4%. The Mg content of unweathered serpentinite is typically in excess of about 16%. The low level of aluminiumbearing minerals (particularly pyroxene) in the primary dunite has resulted in a laterite that is generally low in aluminium at depth. Shear zones, dykes and the surface caprock layer however all contain relative higher levels of Al.

Nickel and cobalt mineralisation
The majority of the nickel mineralisation at RNO is hosted in the Limonite and the upper portions of the saprolite layer. Nickel and cobalt react differently to the laterisation process and as such are often not coincident. During the weathering process Ni will tend to migrate down the profile while cobalt will often tend to precipitate out due to changes to the oxidation state (redox boundary’s) with depth often in association with accumulations of manganese in minerals like asbolane.

During the weathering process the cumulate texture of the original olivine minerals is well preserved. The presence of this cumulate texture in the Bandalup ultramafics and its partial preservation in the regolith is very important to the beneficiation success of the deposits at RNO. As serpentine has broken down in the weathering process, silica released has precipitated pseudomorphing the cumulate olivine boundaries provided thus preserving the cumulate texture. This silica lattice is generally low in nickel, while the fine minerals within the relict olivine crystal boundaries (mostly Fe oxides) contain the bulk of the nickel mineralisation. The physical difference between fine, nickel-bearing minerals and coarse, hard nickel-poor silica rich minerals means the ore can be upgraded by a process of washing and screening known as beneficiation.

All planned mining activities take place in the three mining areas with the bulk of the remaining mining scheduled in Shoemaker-Levy. The current mining activities in the Shoemaker-Levy and Halleys deposits are conducted in the form of a conventional Drill/Blast and Load/Haul operation.

FQM has contracted Mining and Civil Australia (MACA), a mining contracting company based in Western
Australia, to undertake ore and waste mining at RNO under a five year, bcm rate based contract which includes drill and blast activities and management of the explosives supply. The contract has an option for extension however, FQM is also undertaking operational reviews that consider alternative mining methods and owner mining.

Mining and crushing operations at RNO recommenced under FQM ownership at Halley’s in May 2011 with average daily production targets of 10 Kt per day of saprolite and 17 Kt per day of limonite being delivered to the crushers. Limonite delivery capacity has since been increased up to 20 Kt per day.

In 2017 mining operations moved to Hale-Bopp and in 2021 mining commenced in Shoemaker-Levy with ore now being transferred back to the process facility via a 12 km long conveyor that crosses the South Coast highway.

The current state of development at each mining area is:
- Halley’s: Mostly saprolite left in HY 21, HY 41, and HY 43. All other pits have been completed and are available for backfill;
- Hale-Bopp: Mining has been completed in some of the upper sections of the pit (HB201). The remainder of the pit will be mined and backfilled towards the end of the LOM schedule;
- Shoemaker-Levy: SL01 pit is currently 40 metres deep and the SL11 pit is approximately 20 metres
deep, both with Limonite Ore exposed.

The monthly requirement for material movement is 1.5 to 1.6 million tonnes per month which is within the capability of the current mining fleet.

As mining at Shoemaker-Levy is still in the early phase of opening up the starter pits, all waste from mining activities is being stored in external waste dumps. Backfill of waste material into the mined-out areas of Shoemaker-Levy is scheduled to commence in Q3 2022.

Rejects from the Beneficiation Plants are being hauled to the mined-out sections of the Halley’s pit area and deposited in accordance with FQM’s commitment to return the Halley’s pit area to a similar landform to its original state.

Grade control
Conventional open pit grade control practices have been put into place, incorporating RC drilling and sampling on a suitably designed drilling pattern to cover multiple bench horizons. Multi element sample assaying is being carried out on each sample. A grade control process has been standardised and implemented as the basis for designing dig blocks. The procedure ensures up to date estimate results are used together with the defined standards for material types as well as the bench and flitch specifications as aligned to the Mineral Reserve process.

Drilling and blasting
Some near-surface overburden and limonite material can be mined as free-dig however most bench development requires blasting in order to achieve excavator productivity targets. Production drilling and blasting is carried out on 6 metre benches using a small range of drilling/charging patterns and relatively low powder factors.

Controlled blasting is undertaken on interim and final walls to prevent blast damage and to maintain wall control.

Pit Design
For ease of rehabilitation, the external waste dumps were designed to have an overall outer slope gradient of 1:4.5. Ex-pit dumps were used at both Halleys and Hale-Bopp prior to backfill operations commencing. FQM has also designed three small ex-pit dumps for Shoemaker-Levy using 10m benches and 10m berms. Ex-pit deposition of waste material at Shoemaker-Levy will cease in Q3 2022 when in-pit backfill commences.

Mining schedules
With the completion of the detailed ultimate pit designs, detailed life-of-mine (LOM) production scheduling was completed using MineSched software. Scheduling assumptions included:
- minimum mining block size (x, y, z) for all pits = 50 m x 50 m x 3 m;
- mining flitch height = 3 m for monthly and quarterly periods; 6 m for annual periods;
- maximum vertical advance rate = 54 m/year;
- terrace mining with horizontal lag distance of 100 m to 200 m.

Consistent with FQM group budgeting and forecasting practices, the schedule level of detail is monthly for 2022 and 2023, quarterly for 2023 to 2026, and annually thereafter.

LOM schedule
Features of the LOM mining and production schedule as displayed in Table 16-2 are as follows:
- Mining at Shoemaker-Levy commenced in 2021. From January 2022, the Project life is 19 years to 2040.
- The total material to be mined from all pits from January 2022 onwards, amounts to 366Mt(209 Mbcm), of which 130 Mt is Limonite and 48 Mt is Saprolite, and 188 Mt is Waste.
- The starting stockpile balance as at the end of 2021 is 17.7 Mt at a grade of 0.58% Ni.
- The Leach feed throughput rates are 270 tph for HPAL and 150 tph for AL.
- The average annual nickel metal production in the first five years is 30.0 ktpa. Thereafter, the annual average is 28 ktpa.
- The annual average Cobalt production is approximately 1,000 tonnes.
- The overall life of mine strip ratio (tonnes) is 1.06 to 1.

Limonite and Saprolite ores are identified in grade control and are mined separately for processing in separate beneficiation plants. Dedicated stockpiles are located ahead of the limonite and saprolite beneficiation plants.

Each of the two run-of-mine (ROM ore) ore streams (limonite and saprolite) has a typical particle size of sub 1000mm. This material is further crushed to a nominal sub 100mm product for delivery to the respective reclaim stockpiles. Crushing is effected via a jaw crusher and duplicate mineral sizers. Ore is recovered from the stockpiles via rotary bucket wheel reclaimers, which feeds the beneficiation plant feed bin and feed conveying system. The reclaimers are in effect blending tools allowing the stockpiled material to be sent for processing by taking cuts from the full 360° circumference around the rill tower.

Three crushing plants are installed, with two at the Halleys/Hale-Bopp mine area and one at the Shoemaker-Levy area. The two at the Halleys/Hale-Bopp area are each dedicated to one ore type while the crushing plant at Shoemaker-Levy is sized to support campaign crushing of limonite and saprolite, and transfer to the main process plant via a single 10km overland conveyor linking the Shoemaker-Levy mine to the RNO plant. Ore from Shoemaker-Levy deposit is fed onto the appropriate blending stockpiles via a feed distributor.

Stockpile capacity is approximately 3 days. In parallel, and to support maintenance activities in the crushing plants, an emergency feed stockpile of a nominal 7 days capacity of crushed material is retained in the process plant for both Limonite and Saprolite which can be fed into the beneficiation plant via emergency feeders utilising a front end loader.

Processing at RNO can be viewed as involving the following four general stages:
1. Initially the ore is beneficiated (increase the nickel grade and reduce the mass) via a scrubber and a series of screens and cyclones. The nickel and cobalt values are enriched in the fines fractions of both the limonite and Saprolite ores.

2. The beneficiated product is then processed to extract the contained nickel and cobalt into solution via two hydrometallurgical processing methods, high pressure acid leach (HPAL) and atmospheric leach (AL).

3. Precipitation and removal of impurities such as iron, aluminium, and chromium from solution.

4. Precipitation of nickel and cobalt into a mixed hydroxide product (MHP)

Beneficiation
This beneficiation process is designed to reject the principally siliceous barren coarse fractions. Typical mass rejections of 60-70% are achieved at a nominal nickel recovery of 60-65%. The increases in nickel grade in the ........