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
3May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
4May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
5May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
Type 304 stainless steel with a BA finish
Domestic kitchen sink
3
Source: Nickel Institute PaperASSDA Conference – October 2005
6May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
stainless steel production
Source: ABARE PaperASSDA Conference – October 2005
7May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
%
growth indexes China japan
Source: ABARE PaperASSDA Conference – October 2005
8May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
9May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
10May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
11May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
12May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
13May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
14May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
Marlborough Deposits
15May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
Marlborough & Gladstone locations
Source: Behre Dolbear Australia Pty Ltd
16May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
17May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
Gladstone port
facilities are
close by
18May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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?
19May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
20May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
21May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
Proposed process
flow sheet
Source: Behre Dolbear Australia Pty Ltd
22May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
23May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
24May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
25May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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
26May 2006 Gladstone Pacific Nickel Limited
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.