$30 million nickel mine lift

$30m nickel mine lift

BRUCE MOUNSTER

PROTO Resources yesterday announced it would go ahead with a $30 million nickel mine and processing plant at Beaconsfield.
The Australian Stock Exchange-listed company says state-of-the-art processing technology will make the shallow nickel-laterite deposit profitable. It plans to process the ore into nickel, employing as many as 60 people, at the Barnes Hill site, just a few
hundred metres from the Beaconsfield gold mine.
Managing director Andrew Mortimer said the company had applied for a mining licence and construction could start in the second half of next year, pending environmental assessments.
Mr Mortimer said jointventure partner Metals Finance would supply the engineering
and finance. The partners plan to send iron rich overburden to BHP Billiton's Temco plant at Bell Bay. Mr Mortimer said the nickel plant could recycle 100 per cent of its
water and most of its sulphuric acid reagent. He said it wouldn't require a large toxic
tailings dam for iron-rich waste.
The mine would have a 15-20 year span and would be worth between $200-$300
A nickel price crash forced the closure of Tasmania's other nickel mine. Avebury near
Zeelian in 2008, less than a year after it opened, costing almost 200 jobs.
Minmetals indicated it would restart Avebury, which involves a different type of ore
to Barnes Hill. if nickel prices improved.

Link:
http://www.protoresources.com.au/content/documents/100824%20-%20PRW%20Mercury%20$30m%20nickel%20mine%20lift.pdf