PART 11
As I said, when we were there, the optical ore sorter had a blockage, so part of the plant was shut down, including the ball and rod mills, which were not rotating when we went through.
Some more photos in front of the mills, the known and iconic shot of all visits to NAL, and continued past the magnetic separators which we couldn't get much of a look at, and then the 3 stage flotation process, which was still bubbling away and circulating.
See Splits log for a great explanation of this.
The mills actually impart iron into the ore.
The crushing and constant contact with the rods and balls transfer iron, but Sylvain said it was no problem for the multi stage LIMS and WHIMS.
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It was difficult to pick up everything he was saying in the plant.
I remember him saying most of water was recycled and discussing the mag separation. ...
I actually removed my ear plugs, but I still missed a lot of it.
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We poked around the plant a little more.
We even went into the control room with a bunch of monitors showing a schematic of the flow sheet and live data of everything operating.
I wish I could have taken a photo of that, but didn't have the guts to take one with Sylvain in the smallish room.
A couple of techs came in, and checked the status after clearing the blockage in the ore sorter.
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There is also a live screen with repair jobs that change colour when they are raised and then resolved. So they are able to ascertain the status of the plant in one look.
Pretty cool to see it all in action...
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We then headed back outside, and Sylvain headed for the truck.
I think we were all thinking, at least I was, carbonate plant, carbonate plant, carbonate ...when will we see the carbonate plant?
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He gets into the truck and we all proceed to follow.
Buckle up and just about to drive off.....
L: So Sylvain, when will see the carbonate plant?
S:Oh, you want to see the carbonate plant? There is not much going on there....
In my mind...fark yeah I want to see the carbonate plant.
The one part of plant that has caused so much angst and hours and hours of debate, and we are not going to see it??
L: Yes please Sylvain, the carbonate plant.
I got the impression it may be another part of the tour that was axed post Brett.
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For me, that is the major driver for this project, pivotal for NAL's and Sayona's future.
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It not only negates the sub par offtake with PLL, but the chemical margins when vertically integrated are indisputable...the future of the industry.
PROVEN in a DFS...
To not be embracing this with as much energy and focus as possible, is a travesty, reprehensible and in no way in the best interests of Sayona or its shareholders.
And this an arguable point to contest with ASIC, if the debate ever reached the point where shareholders join together and took action against the current board.
Now that Brett has gone, are they acting in the best interests of the company?
S: Oh, OK...lets go...
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.It was toward the back of the plant. or the right hand side if your looking at the rotary kiln from the outside.
As Sylvain had mentioned, not much seemed to be going on.
It was poorly lit, but was a lot quieter, a welcome change from the constant hum and din in the concentration plant.
It almost seemed derelect back here.
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There was also some building stabilisation works being carried out to a couple of the building's foundations.
Some sort of toxic looking fluid, had leaked and soaked the ground around a couple of pillar foundations holding up this section of the building, and there had been some ground movement.
The guys were aware, and had started excavating the area, with the plan to underpin and stabilise the foundations.
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Toward the back of this area where the building ended, was a makeshift workshop and store.
A bench here, a grinder there, a drill press and an oxy in the corner.
There was a small store, with some spares and inventory, but pretty agricultural, real bush mechanic stuff.
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S: So when I came here and saw this. I said guys, we need to sort this out.
The team need a proper workshop facility, if we are to be able to react quickly to break downs, every minute counts.
I pushed and its now allocated in the budget.
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And I think he got 7 figures to sort this area out.
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Great. Someone is thinking proper long term ops.
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The people at the coal face HAVE to be involved in these decisions.
Even the plant design, concentration circuits and carbonate plant, need the input from these guys, at the design stage with the engineers from Hatch.
Everything needs to be layed out logically and accessible if you are to react quickly and repair a problem.
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It is easy for a engineer to place pumps and motors and filters on a cad design and flowsheet, but in reality, if that pump is buried behind 2 concentration tanks and a bunch of plumbing ...your screwed.
Shut the plant down for 2 days while you pull everything apart to gain access, change the pump in a couple of hours, rebuild everything and get the plant back up to speed and you have lost 3 days production.... for a 2 hour pump change!
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With aircraft and the limited space, I see it all the time.
A day or a shift for access, so you can change a component that takes 1 hour.
Then a day to build it up and the testing.
The plane will be on the deck for 2 days...not earning revenue and costing the business money.
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In a plant where you have space and can logically set all this out so it's accessible and easy to maintain, it should never happen. So the ops guys need to meet with Hatch and get this design and layout correct first time...because once it gets bolted in .... without major works to rectify, its usually too late...
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A Proper workshop, tooled up with new gear to respond to break downs.
A proper store with a full inventory of required parts, from o rings to gasket to motors to pumps to plumbing and filters.
Essential for the long-term viability of the plant, to be able to react quickly and keep the recovery rates up.
At my work, sometimes we really have to push to get a new seven figure fit outs like this.
So, its Great to see they are thinking long term, and want to set this up now to support the future...and Sylvain is supported in his requests.
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Back to the carbonate plant.
I remember looking at Split and both of us thinking......Man this looks fairly complete....couldn't really see anything missing from the rows of tanks and equipment.
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L: Righto Sylvain, this 50% half built business...c'mon mate...that's bullshit...it nearly looks complete...
S: Yeah. There has been equipment robbed and cannibalised from this circuit for the concentration plant, as he pointed out some pumps, motors and plumbing that
I remember thinking, thats just chicken shit stuff, able to be purchased at a commercial plumbing and pump store in Val 'Dor.
Hell, I could get it going if it was just that!
Then I think Split asked:
Sp: So the plant, would it operate now, could you produce carbonate, even if its just small batches?
S: No, the pumps and missing parts....
L: But if you got those parts??
S: Well, we still need a crystallizer..
Righto, we are getting somewhere now.
Lets hash this shit out and get a definitive answer from the golden boy...
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THE MAN when it comes to operations at NAL.
(20min delay)