Gladstone Nickel Project - The AusIMM 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited 9 Project Description • A nickel mine and beneficiation plant at Marlborough (Environmental Authority

May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited

Gladstone Nickel ProjectGavin Becker, AusIMM Technical Meeting, 10 May 2006, Brisbane

2May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited

Presentation overview

• Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited• Why Nickel?• Background to this Project• Why Gladstone?• Current Project Status• Objectives• Conclusion


Company Overview• Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited (“GPNL”) owns the

Marlborough Deposits which contain over 1.3bn lb nickel (Ni) and approx 90m lb cobalt (Co) in JORC reserves (4 deposits, 6 others yet to be evaluated)

• GPNL - admitted to AIM in March 2005 raising £11m – 30M shares @ (currently) ~ £1.40p

• Project will comprise a laterite mine at Marlborough and a high pressure acid leach (“HPAL”) plant sited at the Central Queensland, deepwater port city of Gladstone, complemented by imported high grade laterite ores from the South West Pacific

• Marlborough deposits free of debt, and GPNL also has A$29 million cash available from AIM raising to complete DFS


Why Nickel? – Uses and Market• OVER 70% OF THE WORLD’S NICKEL IS CONSUMED

IN STAINLESS (and other alloy) STEELS• Attraction of Nickel containing stainless steels:

• Formability• Weldability• Toughness• Corrosion resistance

–Reduced rate of propagation–Resistance to reducing environments

• Lustre• High temperature properties

Source: Nickel Institute PaperASSDA Conference – October 2005


Type 304 stainless steel with a BA finish

Domestic kitchen sink

3

Source: Nickel Institute PaperASSDA Conference – October 2005


stainless steel production

Source: ABARE PaperASSDA Conference – October 2005


%

growth indexes China japan

Source: ABARE PaperASSDA Conference – October 2005


New Nickel Needs

• “According to my calculations, another 800,000 tonnes of new nickel each year will be required to meet demand growth by 2015 (over and above that required to replace depleting existing production)”Brian Hurley – Key Note Address, Australian Nickel Conference, Perth 19 Oct 2005

• Only half of the requirement (at best) is on the horizon and most of that must come from laterites – The Gladstone Nickel Project is needed


Project Description• A nickel mine and beneficiation plant at Marlborough

(Environmental Authority MIM800078102)

• A slurry pipeline to take beneficiated ore to …..• An HPAL plant and metal refinery at Gladstone• Ore loading facilities (off-shore) and importation

facilities (at the Port of Gladstone) • A tailings storage facility located in the Aldoga

Precinct of the GSDA• Marlborough + Ore importation from SW Pacific : 1+1=3


HPAL for Nickel• Many lessons learned from ‘2nd generation’ plants (Murrin

Murrin, Bulong and Cawse)• Lessons being applied at Sumitomo’s Coral Bay

(commissioned successfully), BHP Billiton’s Ravensthorpe Nickel, Inco’s Goro (under construction) and CVRD’s Vermelho (approved - detailed design) – ‘ 3rd generation’

• GNP (‘4th generation’) is learning from all of these and is assembling an excellent team with strong relevant experience

• The technology works


Gladstone Nickel Project - A modern large scale nickel and cobalt operation• Currently proposed to develop Project in 3 phases:

– Stage 1a ~50,000 tpa nickel metal and ~2,000 tpa cobalt metal from Marlborough ores (with shipments of imported ores)

– Stages 1b (& 2, as the market dictates) will involve plant expansions & importation of high grade ore from SW Pacific region – “value adding” for Australian economy

• The Project has the potential to be one of the largest of its type in the world producing >100,000 tpa nickel (~8-10% of world demand) and 10,000 tpa of cobalt metal from Stages 1a + 1b


Key achievements to date• Acquisition of Marlborough Deposits with mining leases over ~7,560 ha

and JORC ore resources (measured, indicated and inferred) of 125Mt @ 0.80% Ni & 0.05% Co in 4 of over 10 deposits

• Positive Scoping Study completed by Aker Kvaerner, regarded as one of the world’s leading engineering companies

• MOU from Queensland Government for land and infrastructure (18 February 2005), and Project awarded “Significant Status” by Queensland’s Coordinator General 5 October 2005. Moving towards land acquisition currently.

• Excellent relationship and agreement with Traditional Owners in Marlborough vicinity

• Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) for the initial stage of the Gladstone Nickel Project (“GNP or the Project”) now underway

• Following DFS completion by end of Q3 2006, GPNL will be seekingjoint venture partners to take the Project to construction and commissioning


Project Team• URS - EIS and Tailings Management Investigation

Consultants• Aker Kvaerner - Engineering and Plant Design• IMC - Infill Drilling and Mine Planning• RLMS - Slurry Pipeline Route Selection & EIS • SSE (Slurry Systems Engineering) - Pipeline

Engineering• SGS Lakefield Oretest – Metallurgical Tests• BDA (Behre Dolbear Australia) – Independent

Engineer


Marlborough Deposits


Marlborough & Gladstone locations

Source: Behre Dolbear Australia Pty Ltd


Plant location has all infrastructure already in place

Gladstone plant location attributes:– Plant site at Yarwun within GSDA with a deepwater port

facilitating • Modularisation during construction, and• Cost effective delivery of high grade imported ores directly into

the refinery site

– Tailings area at Aldoga, also within GSDA, with storage volume for 25+ years

– Readily available power / gas / water– Established infrastructure and communications – Existing heavy industry service companies– Skilled industrial workforce available


Gladstone port

facilities are

close by


Project Components• Mining Operations• Ore Preparation Beneficiation• Slurry Pipeline to Gladstone• Acid Leaching and Saprolite Neutralisation Circuits• CCD Washing• Mixed Sulphide Intermediate Product • Nickel and Cobalt Refinery• Project Enhancements and Gladstone Synergies under study

• Saline water (cf. Fitzroy catchment)• Heap leaching of beneficiation rejects• Neutralisation of acid residues with alkaline residues???• Aggregates, Magnesium Sulphate and chromite by-products?


Main Inputs and Outputs• Approx Process Inputs (Stage ):

– Ore feedrate– Marlborough water– Gladstone water– Sea water (cooling)– Sulphur– Natural gas– Ammonia– Limestone– Lime– M = Marlborough, T = Marlborough + imported

1a 1b

4 (M) 8 (T) Mdt pa1-2 1-2 GL pa4-5 8-10 GL pa120 240 GL pa500 800 kt pa2-3 4-6 PJ pa40 90 kt pa600 1,400 kt pa40 80 kt pa


Main Inputs and Outputs

Process Outputs (Stage 1):– Nickel Metal product– Cobalt Metal product– Ammonium sulphate– Barren solution (MgSO4?)– Leach tailings

1a 1b50,000 100,000 t pa2,000 11,000 t pa140,000 300,000 t pa12 24 GL pa4.5 9 Mdt pa


Proposed process

flow sheet

Source: Behre Dolbear Australia Pty Ltd


Provisional Project Timetable• EIS on public display August 2006• Complete DFS for Stage 1a by end Q3 2006• Complete PFS for Stage 1b in late 2006• Finalise GNP partnership arrangements late

2006• Detailed engineering (6 months) and

construction for Stage 1a (30 months) complete H2 2009

• Stage 1a ramp-up 2 years• Stages 1b & 2 thereafter as market and / or

partners dictate


Next 6 Months• Definitive Feasibility Study is underway

– Marlborough infill drilling ore test-work to update resources and reserves, and confirm process plant design parameters (beneficiation emphasis) - completed

– HPAL and other process testwork on Marlborough ores - completed– Optimisation of process plant flow sheets and engineering design– Environmental studies being carried out concurrently– Update of economic model and market studies

• Progress imported ore supply agreements• Further discussions with resource,

engineering and industrial majors re potential partnerships going forward


Low cost shipping of imported ore will increase Project’s competitive advantage

in Stages 1b and 2• Imported high grade ore shipping will use

Capesize bulk ore carriers (150,000+ tonnes capacity)

• Potential load points in New Caledonia and Indonesia will accommodate Capesize vessels

• Capesize unloading point at proposed Wiggins Island Coal Terminal (WICT) is only 4kms from the GPN Plant site. WICT has also been classified as a Significant Project by the Coordinator General


INDONESIA

PHILIPPINES

NEW CALEDONIA

SOLOMONISLANDS

Marlborough

IRIAN JAYA / PNG

The Gladstone Nickel Project will be a large scale long life regional processor of

nickel and cobalt laterites

Gladstone

Source: USGS (2003), AME estimates


Conclusion• Who will fill the Nickel supply / demand gap?• Gladstone Pacific Nickel intends to play a

significant part, importing ore and value adding (the opposite of Australian ‘convention’)………..

• Providing economic benefits to CQ, Qld, the nation and GPNL stakeholders.

Documents

Gladstone Nickel Project - The AusIMM 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited 9 Project Description • A nickel mine and beneficiation plant at Marlborough (Environmental Authority