Name of the Project
Pilgangoora lithium/tantalum project.

Location
Western Australia.

Client
Pilbara Minerals.

Project Description
Pilbara has endorsed the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the base case two-million-tonne-a-year development of the Pilgangoora project.

The DFS was based on the project’s updated ore reserve of 69.8-million tonnes grading 1.26% lithium superoxide (LiO₂, or spodumene), 132 parts per million tantalum pentoxide (Ta₂O₅) and 1.04% iron oxide.

The DFS proposes a mining method based on conventional openpit mining, and has been evaluated for truck and hydraulic excavator (backhoe) operations using 4 m x 2.5 m flitches for 10 m benches for combination pegmatite waste mining and 10 m bench mining for waste mining.

The concentrator plant has been designed to process two-million tonnes a year of ore feed.

The nominal capacity of the concentrator has been estimated at 270 t/h.

The flowsheet has been designed to process two-million tonnes a year of ore feed – chemical-grade spodumene at 6% LiO₂  and medium iron; and tantalite concentrate at 30%  Ta₂O₅ prefinal dressing.

The concentrator has six key areas – crushing; feed preparation; dense-media separation; gravity separation; grinding, flotation and magnetic separation; and dewatering.

Wet magnetic separation has been included in the flotation process to reduce iron in the technical-grade product.

The project will have a life-of-mine of 36 years.

As a result of the significant increase in the Pilgangoora resource and reserve base, Pilbara has also completed a prefeasibility study (PFS) to assess the potential to double production from two-million tonnes a year to four-million tonnes a year from Year 3 as an expansion option.

This work has also delivered very compelling results, which would take the project to a new level.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a post-tax net present value (NPV), at a 10% discount rate, of A$709-million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 38.1%, with a payback of 2.72 years.

The proposed expansion project has an NPV of A$1.17-billion and an IRR of 46.3%, with a payback of 3.05 years.

Value
Initial capital costs are estimated A$213.9-million.

The incremental capital cost estimate to achieve a four-million-tonne-a-year plant and infrastructure capacity at the Pilgangoora site, including all direct and indirect costs, is estimated at more than A$128-million at a PFS level of assessment.

Duration
Construction is expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year and commissioning from late 2017.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Pilbara Minerals, tel +61 8 9336 6267 or fax+61 8 9433 5121.