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Group Ltd’s Cloudbreak iron ore mine in the ary Primero Group has been selected as
Pilbara. the successful engineering tenderer for
Abujar.
Primero will provide all process and en-
Wagners in for the long gineering design, procurement oversight,
haul with Glencore field engineering and commissioning ser-
vices.
Queensland-based Wagners Holding Construction of the 22km site access
Company Ltd has secured a four-year re- road linking the national highway to the pro-
newal of its haulage services contract with posed processing plant site at Abujar has
Glencore at the George Fisher and Lady also begun.
Loretta underground mines.
Up to 28mt of zinc ore and tailings will be
loaded and hauled between the mine sites Calix, Pilbara target
and the Mt Isa Mines processing facility. midstream lithium
The George Fisher and Lady Loretta
mines are 20km and 140km respectively Technology company Calix Ltd has ex-
from Mt Isa. ecuted a MOU with Pilbara Minerals Ltd for
Haulage services will operate 24/7 the development of a “midstream” lithium
throughout the term of the agreement, uti- chemicals refinery.
lising 22 triple and quad road train combi- Pilbara and Calix will undertake a scop- Calix’s BATMn reactor in Bacchus Marsh
nations. ing study to assess a new refining process where successful calcination trials of
Wagners has been providing these ser- incorporating Calix’s calcination technology spodumene were conducted
vices to Glencore since 2016. and subsequent production of a concen-
trated lithium salt “midstream product” for GR in control with
Refurbished mill the lithium batteries. Mipac acquisition
The proposed demonstration process
perfect fit for Abujar will take fine, lower-grade spodumene con- GR Engineering Services Ltd has entered
centrate from Pilbara’s Pilgangoora mine into an agreement to acquire Mipac Holdings
Grinding company NCP International and further process it on site using renew- Pty Ltd, a leading global provider of control
will refurbish an unused SAG mill for Tietto able energy to create a low-carbon con- systems engineering, automation and tech-
Minerals Ltd’s Abujar gold project in Cote centrated lithium salt which can be further nology services, for up to $21.4 million.
d’Ivoire. refined by others into lithium battery materi- The Geoff Jones-led company said the
The single-stage SAG mill was originally als, or potentially used as direct feedstock acquisition of Mipac enhanced its control
manufactured in 2008 but never put into op- for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode system design capabilities and expanded its
eration and has been in storage in Australia manufacture. service offering from both its broader miner-
for the past 12 years. LFP batteries are a key subset of China’s al processing design and construction divi-
NCP will transport the mill components lithium-ion battery supply and the battery of sion and the Upstream Production Solutions
to Johannesburg for a full inspection and choice for the Tesla Model 3. Pty Ltd business.
repair. The mill is expected to be available The scoping study will run until late 2021. Mipac is forecasting FY2021 revenue of
ex-works in November. If positive, Pilbara and Calix intend to form a about $25 million. Similar revenue is expect-
Tietto believes this mill offers a significant JV to build a demonstration facility capable ed in FY2022.
cost advantage over a new one, represent- of producing up to several thousand tonnes Founded in 1997, Mipac has operated on
ing a saving of more than $3.5 million on the of lithium salt. projects both in Australia and overseas and
$230 million capex in last year’s PFS. Pilbara and Calix began work on the pro- currently employs 85 people across its offic-
A DFS on the 3.02 moz Abujar project is ject after being brought together under the es and project site locations. The business is
expected next quarter. Future Battery Industries Co-operative Re- headquartered in Brisbane and has a satel-
Meanwhile, NRW Holdings Ltd subsidi- search Centre (FBI-CRC). lite office in Vancouver.

+ 27 (0)11 028 1181 info@nucleusml.co.za www.nucleusml.co.za

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT JUNe 2021 Page 69