ANOTHER base metal project, now in the throes of being developed for an estimated $42 million, will join the ranks of its nickel producing peers in WA.
LionOre Australia (Nickel) Limited will start preliminary site works at its wholly-owned Emily Ann nickel sulphide project within the next two weeks as a prelude to announcing a formal development decision.
LionOre Nickel has also reached agreement in principle on project finance terms with NM Rothschild & Sons (Australia) Limited to develop Emily Ann.
The Emily Ann mine is planned to be operating at full production capacity within 18 months of a formal development decision being announced.
“The decision to commence preliminary site works ahead of a formal development decision will enable the company to advance the Emily Ann development process and signals our confidence in the robustness and quality of the project,” said LionOre chairman and CEO Don Bailey.
The Rothschild facilities include a $17 million project debt facility, a $3 million cost over-run facility, a $2 million guarantee facility and various hedging facilities.
The Rothschild financing will require LionOre Nickel to imple-ment a commodity hedge program.
LionOre Nickel has also arranged unsecured debt facilities with its Canadian parent, LionOre Mining International Limited.
As currently planned, Emily Ann would be an underground mine utilising an on-site conventional nickel sulphide concentrate plant with an annual throughput of 250,000 tonnes producing an average of 6,700 tonnes of payable nickel each year, over the initial five year life of the mine.
The Emily Ann deposit was discovered in 1997 and comprises a series of overlapping lenses hosted by the ultramafic lenses and felsic volcanics.
