Poseidon Nickel Limited has signed a nickel offtake agreement with Tsingshan in China. The contract covers the first 2.5 years of mine output at Silver Swan, believed to be the World’s highest grade nickel mine. Poseidon will deliver broken ore to Tsingshan which will process the material through their integrated Nickel Pig Iron (NPI) and stainless steel facilities in Fujian. The Tsingshan process route is novel because it can recover 100% of the nickel in the ore which is not the case for flotation plants normally used although this option is only possible because of the exceptionally high grade of the ore.
David Singleton, Managing Director and CEO said, “Our studies to date indicate that Silver Swan could have one of the lowest operating and start-up capital costs in Australia. This novel style of contract for export ore coupled with Tsingshan’s low cost production route is a key enabler to starting production at the mine. Whilst nickel prices remain low, we believe that when the recovery gets underway, Silver Swan can get into production very quickly. Our current business focus is ensuring that both Lake Johnston and Silver Swan are ready for production as prices improve.”
