30 OCTOBER 2013www.miningnews.net
WA project could support a 1.2 mt alumina refinery for about 50 years: Bauxite Resources
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
2 min read
Bauxite Resources said its Felicitas project in Western Australia could support a 1.2 million tonne per annum alumina refinery for nearly half a century after it improved the site resource by 47.9%.
Total unbeneficiated resources at the 48sq.km site stand at 218.7Mt at 30.1% available aluminium oxide.
The estimate was also found to include grade of 1.9% for reactive silicon dioxide and available alumina-to-silica ratios considered desirable for alumina refining.
Data was collected from 7582 vacuum holes drilled for 54,000m at the site, of which 5142 holes were within the resource.
No assumptions have been made regarding metallurgy other than the material could be refined using the industry-recognised Bayer processing method.
Bauxite chief executive Peter Canterbury said the upgrade confirmed WA’s Darling Range region, including the Felicitas site 60km northeast of Perth, as a world-scale resource.
He noted that the project tonnage – when tallied in combination with the Bauxite’s nearby Fortuna inventory – brought the company resource in the area to more than 250Mt.
“With the proposed current drilling programs across both deposits, further growth in this resource is expected in the near term,” Canterbury said.
“This resource is now the largest JORC-compliant resource in Australia outside the major Australian alumina producers.”
The deposit displays loose overburden typically less than 1m in thickness, with the bauxite zone averaging 4.5m in thickness.
Both Bauxite and its Bauxite Alumina joint venture with China’s Yankuang Resources are undertaking mine development activities in the area including min planning and preliminary work for environmental baseline studies.
When undertaken, the costs of a bankable feasibility study will be borne 90% by Yankuang, with Bauxite funding the balance.
Subject to the study results, the two companies will design and build a refinery with Bauxite funding 9% of construction costs and receiving 30% of the alumina end product.
Shares in Bauxite were up 9.1% today at A12c.
Total unbeneficiated resources at the 48sq.km site stand at 218.7Mt at 30.1% available aluminium oxide.
The estimate was also found to include grade of 1.9% for reactive silicon dioxide and available alumina-to-silica ratios considered desirable for alumina refining.
Data was collected from 7582 vacuum holes drilled for 54,000m at the site, of which 5142 holes were within the resource.
No assumptions have been made regarding metallurgy other than the material could be refined using the industry-recognised Bayer processing method.
Bauxite chief executive Peter Canterbury said the upgrade confirmed WA’s Darling Range region, including the Felicitas site 60km northeast of Perth, as a world-scale resource.
He noted that the project tonnage – when tallied in combination with the Bauxite’s nearby Fortuna inventory – brought the company resource in the area to more than 250Mt.
“With the proposed current drilling programs across both deposits, further growth in this resource is expected in the near term,” Canterbury said.
“This resource is now the largest JORC-compliant resource in Australia outside the major Australian alumina producers.”
The deposit displays loose overburden typically less than 1m in thickness, with the bauxite zone averaging 4.5m in thickness.
Both Bauxite and its Bauxite Alumina joint venture with China’s Yankuang Resources are undertaking mine development activities in the area including min planning and preliminary work for environmental baseline studies.
When undertaken, the costs of a bankable feasibility study will be borne 90% by Yankuang, with Bauxite funding the balance.
Subject to the study results, the two companies will design and build a refinery with Bauxite funding 9% of construction costs and receiving 30% of the alumina end product.
Shares in Bauxite were up 9.1% today at A12c.
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