Agoracom

Note similarities, trucking, concentrator, rail, even transport overseas for refining, with BHP's Mt Keith operation (laterite), less tonnage right now for us, but look at the grade they have which is economical...Tonnage will grow, we've just begun.

Mt Keith Nickel Operation

World’s largest open pit nickel mine

•Reserves of 243 Mt @ 0.54% Ni (incl. stockpiles)

•Mining rate of ~40 Mbcm/a

• Mine life of over 20 years (incl. stockpiles

Mt Keith Operation is an open-pit nickel mine located within the Shire of Wiluna, 720 kilometres northeast of Perth and 430 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie in western Australia’s North Eastern Goldfields. The nearest population centres are Wiluna, 90 kilometres to the north and Leinster, 90 kilometres to the south.

Mt Keith is a surface nickel mining operation, comprising an open pit and concentrator plant. The mine and mineral processing plant at MKO operate 24 hours a day on 12-hour continuous shifts, 365 days a year.

The size and shape of Mt Keith’s nickel deposit makes it amenable to open pit mining, using a conventional drill, blast, load and haul mining system.

Ore from the pit is delivered to the concentrator to be crushed and then processed. The concentrator uses the latest technology in mineral processing equipment and currently has the capacity to process 11.5 million tonnes of ore per year.

Nickel concentrate is transported to Leinster Nickel Operation from where it is transported to Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter by rail for further processing or to the Port of Esperance for final sales.

Mt Keith is a fly in-fly out operation involving around 1,000 BHP Billiton employees and contractors.

Mt Keith Concentrator – Kalgorlee Nickel Smelter – Kwinana Nickel Refinery

The Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and Concentrator

The Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter and Concentrator are located in the Goldfields region of Western Australia, approximately 600 kilometres east of Perth.

Concentration

After mining, the sulphide ores are transported to a concentrator to upgrade their nickel content. The ores are first crushed and ground, liberating the sulphide minerals from worthless rock, or gangue. The sulphide minerals are then separated from the gangue, by flotation, and dried.

Ores mined at Kambalda grade about 3% nickel content and the concentrates produced after treatment grade around 11% nickel. By comparison, Leinster ores contain about 2% nickel and concentrates at 12% nickel. Mt Keith ore grades at 0.6% and concentrates at 20% nickel. Concentrates produced at all three centres are transported to the Kalgoorlie smelter for further processing. Half the Mt Keith concentrate is shipped direct to Finland for further processing.

Concentrates produced at RAV8 and Emily Ann are transported by road to Esperance for export and further treatment at Inco's smelter in Canada.

The extraction of nickel from lateritic ore containing 0.8% to 1% nickel, is complex with a number of process options available. The ore is subjected to high temperature pressure acid leaching followed by solvent extraction to yield nickel metal.

Cheers, Mark