SKM Appointment

Pre-Feasibility

SKM appointment

TNG has appointed the leading global engineering firm, Sinclair Knight Mertz (“SKM”), to manage the completion of a Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) for the Company’s flagship Mount Peake Iron-Vanadium Project in the Northern Territory.

The PFS, which is expected to take seven months to complete, will build on the positive independent Scoping Study announced last month and will be based on a conventional open pit mining operation processing 5Mtpa. It will be undertaken in conjunction with the next phase of pilot plant metallurgical test work, which TNG recently commissioned.

The PFS will pave the way for a Definitive Feasibility Study next year on potential commercial development options for the Mount Peake Project as the foundation for a long-life, world-scale ferrous metals business in the Northern Territory.

The Scoping Study was based on the use of a revolutionary new patented hydrometallurgical process, developed by TNG in conjunction with its metallurgical consultants Mineral Engineering Technical Services Pty Ltd (“METS”), which has been successful in recovering the three principal commodities – vanadium, titanium and iron – from samples of Mount Peake ore.

The key findings of the Scoping Study were:

  • Mine Life:     23.63 years
  • Processing rate (life-of-mine):     5Mt /annum
  • Life-of-mine production:     107.1 million tonnes
  • Process head grade:     0.33% V2O5, 25.39% Fe, 6.04% TiO2
  • Total metal production:     349kt V2O5, 27,182kt Fe, 6,463kt TiO2
  • Total operating costs (excluding royalties):     $46.6/tonne
  • Preliminary capital estimate:    $370.3M (for Stage 1 – 2Mtpa)

$307.6M (for Stage 2 – 5Mtpa)

  • Annual Nett Cash Flow:     $148.37M / annum