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NICKEL CONFERENCE REVIEW

IGO looks for Nova value add

ndependence Group NL (IGO) is close are able to do so at the lower end of the have done the work and determined that
Ito completing a PFS into a new nickel cost curve. if we can find another orebody within
extraction process which could open the “This process, based on the work we 100km of the plant we will be able to eco-
door to a new low-cost entry to the bur- have done so far, will redefine the bottom nomically truck it to site,” he said.
geoning nickel sulphate market. of the cost curve for producing nickel sul- After three years of extensive geophys-
Speaking during the opening session phate.” ics, geochemistry and aircore drilling on
of the Australian Nickel Conference, IGO Entering the EV battery cycle has given the Nova system, IGO is now closing in
managing director Peter Bradford said a IGO impetus in its quest to establish its on mine life extensions.
PFS on the hydrometallurgical process green credentials and Bradford said the “We’ve leveraged 3D seismic over the
would be unveiled “in the coming weeks”. IGO Process would also reinforce the entire mining lease and that has given
IGO – which has been working on the company’s commitment to green tech- us a greater understanding of the geol-
process for two years – believes the new nologies. ogy and the architecture underneath the
flowsheet will generate higher nickel pay- “The process produces less emissions Nova deposit and it is showing the search
abilities from customers. In its existing than any other nickel sulphate process space we have for the magmatic intrusive
The patented IGO process will produce “
Nova offtake contracts, the company
averages 70% payability on nickel-in-
concentrate. This process, based on the work we have
“That means there is 30% of the nickel
metal we are producing which we are not done so far, will redefine the bottom of the
getting paid for and we would like to get a cost curve for producing nickel sulphate.
bit more of it,” Bradford said.

battery grade nickel sulphate and cobalt
sulphate products which the company and it will produce a waste by-product geology is much larger than what was
believes will attract higher paybilities from which we can convert into ammonium originally thought,” Bradford said. “As a
battery precursor producers. sulphate and sell to the fertiliser industry,” result, we have wound up the drill budget
“It is simple; it is elegant,” Bradford said he said. and will spend $25 million on the mining
of the IGO process. “We have one stage It is still early days for IGO and its nickel lease this year and 70% of that is purely
of leaching followed by neutralisation, sol- sulphide producing peers in their quest to drilling. We have five rigs, three surface
vent extraction and crystallisation to pro- break into the growing EV-related nickel and two underground, working as we
duce battery grade nickel sulphate. We sulphate market but Bradford and others speak.”
do that with a very high metal extraction expect the sector to cause structural dis- On a regional scale, the company is
of better than 97% nickel and cobalt and ruption to nickel markets. chasing the Fraser Range’s next major
Both IGO and Western Areas Ltd deposit.
are currently discussing new offtake “This whole belt is 400km long and is
terms with prospective customers and prospective not just for Nova-style nickel
Bradford expects increased demand but also zinc-copper VMS deposits and
from new players to change the terms gold,” Bradford said.
of such contracts. IGO’s aggressive exploration plans are
“We are working on a new tender being funded by strong performances
process for our nickel sulphide con- from Nova and the 30/70 Tropicana gold
centrate offtake,” he said. “We will JV with AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.
benefit from a tightening in the market Nova has beaten feasibility study pro-
and because the Nova brand is now duction guidance in each of the last five
well understood. During the last ten- quarters and its industry leading AISC of
der process in 2015, no one had seen $2.79/lb has allowed it to generate $334
nickel concentrate production come million in free cash flow since commercial
out of Nova, only bench-scale test production was reached in July 2017.
work, so now people are familiar with Bradford said the company was keen to
it we expect improved overall terms.” allow shareholders to share in that per-
While IGO is making significant in- formance.
vestments in extracting greater value “We will return 15-25% of free cash flow
from its existing production it is even to investors,” he said. “The rest is held for
more committed to increasing nickel exploration and building the next Nova
output. when we discover it.”
The company has a $66 million
exploration budget for FY2020 with – Dominic Piper
Bradford saying he was more confi-
dent than ever that the discovery of the
next Nova was getting close.
peter Bradford “We are hunting for Nova 2.0 we

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