Cassini Resources Holds Nickel Focus

THE INSIDE STORY: Cassini Resources (ASX: CZI) continues to make steady progress on the company’s West Musgrave project (WMP) in Western Australia.

With Earn-in/Joint Venture partner Oz Minerals (ASX: OZL), Cassini is advancing Further Scoping Study (FSS) activities at the WMP.

This is the first stage of the Earn-in/JV Agreement between the two companies and aims to further reduce technical risk using metallurgical test work to update previous mining and processing studies to determine a mining operation returning maximum value.

“We will be drilling some areas of the known Resource, or extensions to the Resource that are high-grade, but are yet to be closed off by drilling,” Cassini Resources managing director Richard Bevan told The Resources Roadhouse.

“We expect to achieve some reasonable numbers, but the main objective is to identify any high-grade zones that could be introduced early into the mine plan.”

To date, the FSS remains on schedule for a quarter four 2017 finish.

Cassini has re-opened the camp at the WMP for the field activities, having obtained all heritage and environmental permits, allowing the JV to commence drilling activities.

Drilling is designed to test potential high-grade extensions to the WMP’s most advanced nickel targets, Nebo and Babel, with RC drilling to test several zones supported by coincident electromagnetic (EM) anomalies.

The JV considers any additional high-grade mineralisation will have a positive impact on project economics with results to form the basis of updated revised mine plans and schedules as part of an update of the geological interpretation. 

Energy, Water and Transport studies will update options for the, with an Infrastructure study already underway to buildon results of a Scoping Study completed by Cassini in 2015.

The objectives of the Energy Study are to evaluate conventional and renewable fuel options to facilitate the optimum processing throughput.

Cassini previously proposed a hybrid wind-diesel power solution and to this end a wind mast will be installed to collect baseline wind data. Hybrid solar-diesel options will also be considered in a desk top study.

An upcoming review of groundwater sources for the WMP will hope to identify local water options and assess key environmental issues for the project including an approvals pathway.

The study will incorporate two drill holes targeting nearby palaeochannels within the project area with potential to host water resources to satisfy the processing plant requirements.

As these palaeochannels are much closer to the proposed processing site than previously considered water sources they could offer a substantial capital cost saving.

The review of the transport logistics will comprise a review of all transport route options to identify a complete supply chain solution integrating incoming supplies with outgoing product.

Metallurgical test work commenced in January 2017 is expected to be completed in June with the aim of building on earlier results and to provide a higher level of confidence by representing a broader range of samples from the Nebo and Babel ore bodies.

The metallurgical program results will provide inputs into the Process Plant Design, which will start as soon as floatation test work is complete.

Cassini recently answered investor and shareholder queries by providing an insight into cobalt opportunities within the WMP.

Considering recent rises in the cobalt price and the implications for the project, the results demonstrated there was indeed a significant amount of contained cobalt in the Nebo–Babel deposits that would be produced as a by-product of nickel and copper production.

The Nebo-Babel deposits contain approximately 30,000 tonnes of cobalt, which Cassini claims to be competitively placed against other cobalt dominant projects.

In its 2015 Scoping Study, Cassini included market advice that cobalt within nickel concentrates was healthy enough to attract by-product credits and proposed approximately 500 tonnes per annum of cobalt in concentrate for the life of mine (+10 years).

The FSS work currently underway will include new mine optimisation and financial modelling, likely to include a higher long-term cobalt price than the previous study.

“We had received a lot of questions from shareholders and others about it, which is why we released the information to the market,” Bevan explained.

“The WMP is not a primary cobalt project, however, we do have good exposure to cobalt and increasing prices will provide upside through cobalt by-product credit revenue.”

Cassini Resources Limited (ASX: CZI)
…The Short Story

HEAD OFFICE
10 Richardson Street
West Perth WA 6005

Phone: +61 8 6164 8900

Email: admin@cassiniresources.com.au
Web: www.cassiniresources.com.au

DIRECTORS
Mike Young, Richard Bevan, Dr Jon Hronsky, Phil Warren, Greg Miles