Minara approves $300m nickel expansion

Perth-based nickel miner Minara Resources Ltd has recieved 'in principle' approval from its board for a $300 million heap leach expansion project.

The company is Australia's second largest nickel producer and operates the Murrin Murrin nickel and cobalt, joint venture project (60% Minara, 40% Glencore International AG) which is situated in the northern goldfields region between the towns of Leonora and Laverton.

Minara's full annoucement is pasted below:

The Board of Minara has granted 'in principle' approval for the expenditure of approximately A$300 million for the heap leach expansion project.

This will see the expansion of the company's heap leach project deliver 8,000 - 10,000 tonnes of nickel per annum.

The additional capacity will come on stream progressively from late 2009.

This is a significant investment by Minara delivering a second, low cost, low risk production source enabling the company to maximise throughput of Murrin Murrin's plant capacity.

"Our investment in the nickel heap leach project is part of Minara's growth strategy and confirms our confidence in the pilot plant which has been running successfully for 12 months.

The heap leach project is the world's first commercial nickel heap leach operation," Minara‟s Managing Director and CEO Peter Johnston said.

The innovative expansion plans include adding a further five heap leach pads which will enable the company to expand up to 1 mtpa under leach, installing a large liquor pre-heating circuit and enhancing the existing iron rejection circuit.

"Minara has spent over $70 million on developing the heap leach technology and results from the demonstration plant have exceeded our expectations.

We have achieved 78% recovery of nickel from scats after 180 days under leach. Leaching of ore is well progressed with results also exceeding our expectations," Mr Johnston added.

This expansion is the first real growth at Murrin Murrin beyond the existing high pressure acid leach circuit.

It is designed to maximise the existing resources and infrastructure that currently exist at the Murrin Murrin operations.

It provides a unique combination of a brownfield expansion utilising existing resources and is the result of an extensive R&D program over the last 4 years.

The project is a credit to all involved and we are confident that by using this technology we will maximise results for all our shareholders.