Overview
Stage | Permitting |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
- Nickel
- Copper
- Cobalt
- Gold
- Silver
- Palladium
- Platinum
|
Mining Method |
|
Processing |
|
Mine Life | 26 years (as of Jan 1, 2020) |
Latest News | OZ Minerals wraps up West Musgrave takeover October 6, 2020 |
Source:
October 6, 2020 - OZ Minerals has completed a $76 million acquisition of Cassini Resources, giving the company full ownership of the West Musgrave nickel-copper project in Western Australia.
Summary:
The deposits are located within the West Musgrave Province of Western Australia, which is part of an extensive Mesoproterozoic orogenic belt. The Nebo and Babel deposits are hosted in a mafic intrusions of the Giles Complex (1068Ma) that has intruded into amphibolite facies orthogneiss country rock.
Mineralisation is hosted within tubular chonolithic gabbronorite bodies and are expressed primarily as a broad zones of disseminated sulphides and co-magmatic accumulations of, matrix to massive and breccia sulphides.
Summary:
The deposits are near-surface and easily accessible by open pit mining with a pre-strip and initial ore stockpile for process plant commissioning of approximately 31Mt, some of which will be free dig. Processing rates between 6Mtpa and 23Mtpa have been thoroughly examined and an optimised rate of 10Mtpa selected. Stockpile strategies and in-pit dumping of waste have all been optimised to minimise operating cost and optimise mill feed grade.
Mining is modelled to be conventional drill, blast, load and haul and is assumed to be contractor operated during the first five years of operation, transitioning to owner operate in year six. The haulage fleet will comprise up to twenty-five 220t haul trucks and optionality is being maintained to allow for these trucks to be fully autonomous in the future.
Babel will be mined for the first two years to access higher grade, near-surface mineralisation, with Nebo then started in year 3.
Mining Rate: ~ 31Mtpa (pre-strip & stockpiling), ~34Mtpa (Yr1-5), ~43Mtpa (Yr6-LOM). Strip Ratio: ~3.3 LOM average.
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
An innovative mineral processing plant will be built on site. The grinding circuit consists of two stages of crushing followed by two parallel vertical roller mills treating nominally 5Mtpa each. The second stage of crushing and vertical roller mills replace a traditional SAG Mill, Ball Mill and Pebble Crushing circuit. Vertical roller mills are widely used in the grinding of cement plant feeds and products, slag, coal and other industrial minerals, with thousands currently in operation worldwide. The mill has benefits in reducing power consumption by ~15%, no ball charge grinding media, higher flotation recovery and can be ramped up and down in response to the availability of low-cost renewable energy. The Vertical Roller Mill utilises compression style comminution principles taking 75mm rock to flotation feed size in the one machine.
A Bulk Separation flotation flowsheet producing separate copper and nickel concentrates will be used. The flowsheet has been developed to mi ........

Recoveries & Grades:
Commodity | Parameter | Avg. LOM |
Nickel
|
Recovery Rate, %
| ......  |
Nickel
|
Head Grade, %
| 0.42 |
Nickel
|
Concentrate Grade, %
| ......  |
Copper
|
Recovery Rate, %
| ......  |
Copper
|
Head Grade, %
| 0.45 |
Copper
|
Concentrate Grade, %
| ......  |
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Projected Production:
Commodity | Product | Units | Avg. Annual |
Nickel
|
Metal in concentrate
|
kt
| 27 |
Copper
|
Metal in copper concentrate
|
kt
| ......  |
Operational Metrics:
Metrics | |
Stripping / waste ratio
| ......  |
Annual mining capacity
| ......  |
Annual processing capacity
| ......  |
* According to 2020 study.
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Reserves at February 11, 2020:
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Probable
|
220 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.33 %
|
720 kt
|
Probable
|
220 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.36 %
|
790 kt
|
Probable
|
220 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
120 ppm
|
|
Probable
|
220 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.06 g/t
|
|
Probable
|
220 Mt
|
Silver
|
1 g/t
|
|
Probable
|
220 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.1 g/t
|
|
Probable
|
220 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.1 g/t
|
|
Indicated
|
280 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.32 %
|
910 kt
|
Indicated
|
280 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.35 %
|
990 kt
|
Indicated
|
280 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
120 ppm
|
|
Indicated
|
280 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.06 g/t
|
|
Indicated
|
280 Mt
|
Silver
|
1 g/t
|
|
Indicated
|
280 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.1 g/t
|
|
Indicated
|
280 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.08 g/t
|
|
Inferred
|
63 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.34 %
|
210 kt
|
Inferred
|
63 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.38 %
|
240 kt
|
Inferred
|
63 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
120 ppm
|
|
Inferred
|
63 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.07 g/t
|
|
Inferred
|
63 Mt
|
Silver
|
1 g/t
|
|
Inferred
|
63 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.11 g/t
|
|
Inferred
|
63 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.09 g/t
|
|
Total Resource
|
340 Mt
|
Nickel
|
0.33 %
|
1,100 kt
|
Total Resource
|
340 Mt
|
Copper
|
0.36 %
|
1,200 kt
|
Total Resource
|
340 Mt
|
Cobalt
|
120 ppm
|
|
Total Resource
|
340 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.06 g/t
|
|
Total Resource
|
340 Mt
|
Silver
|
1 g/t
|
|
Total Resource
|
340 Mt
|
Palladium
|
0.1 g/t
|
|
Total Resource
|
340 Mt
|
Platinum
|
0.08 g/t
|
|
Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of February 11, 2020:
HME Type | Size | Quantity | Leased or Contractor |
Truck (underground)
|
220 t
|
25
|
|
Aerial view:
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