West Perth-based Moly Mines Ltd has signed on to purchase $45 million of capital equipment for its Spinifex Ridge molybdenum/copper project from ThyssenKrupp subsidiary Polysius Pty Ltd, the company announced today.
The full text of a company announcement is pasted below
Moly Mines Limited (ASX, TSX: MOL) has taken a major step in securing plant and equipment for the 15 million tonne per annum Spinifex Ridge molybdenum/copper project in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
Moly Mines has signed a Letter of Intent with the ThyssenKrupp subsidiary, Polysius, for the supply of €27 million (AUD $45.0 million) of long lead items for the processing plant/concentrator, which include:
- 1 Primary crusher
- 2 High Pressure Grinding Roll ("HPGR") units
- 2 Ball mills
The Letter of Intent will be replaced within 40 days with a formal supply agreement, ensuring that the plant will be delivered in time for the start-up of operations, targeted for early 2009.
Moly Mines Managing Director Dr Derek Fisher said the agreement with ThyssenKrupp demonstrated the company's confidence in the Spinifex Ridge project and the world molybdenum price, and was a major step in its development as the world's next major primary molybdenum mine.
"This, large order gives us the advantage of securing equipment that has proven its reliability in similar operations around the world, but also guarantees a relatively short delivery date in a very competitive market" he said.
The equipment maintains the conventional plant design concepts outlined in the project pre-feasibility study.
The HPGR model tertiary crusher selected for Spinifex Ridge has recently been installed at Phelps Dodge's (now Freeport-McMoRan) Cerro Verde copper operation in Peru and has been chosen for the large Boddington Gold mine near Perth where Newmont is planning to install four units.
ThyssenKrupp currently holds the largest market share in hard ore applications for HPGRs. The 11.5 MW ball mills and the primary crusher selected for Spinifex Ridge are also proven, with numerous operations around the world and in Australia using similar equipment.
ThyssenKrupp was selected to provide this equipment after a detailed evaluation study of proposals by the Spinifex Ridge project engineers WorleyParsons and confirmation of the comminution circuit design.
