Having managed several studies of various levels of definition (scoping through to definitive feasibility)
@Barry81 it is not unusual for time frames to "expand" somewhat, however, this is a blowout on a very grand scale indeed!
I will speculate on the causes.
The most common, in my experience, is jumping into a Definitive Study when you haven't actually "defined" what it is that you are studying and should, in fact, be doing a Pre-feasibility Study or even Scoping Study.
My definitions:
Scoping Study = What could it be?
Pre-feasibility Study = What should it be?
(Definitive) Feasibility Study = What will it be?
Typically getting ahead of one's self in this way can lead to time expansions of 3 to 9 months, so conceivably this could be the cause.
However, I note that they have "instigated further flotation and magnetic separation testwork......". The negative view on this would be to suspect that this either means that additional drilling and analysis has shown that silica particle size distribution is not consistent, resulting in higher than desirable levels of silica in the product, and/or higher iron levels are more widespread than previously thought and without good mag sep, they may have to exclude some areas of the deposit if they are to consistently produce a product with an acceptable Fe
2O
3 content. The positive take would be that some material is currently excluded from the reserve due to poor silica separation and/or high iron content and modification of the process flowsheet could enable these areas to be mined and processed to produce an acceptable product, thereby increasing the reserve. Take your pick!
@Don Haeberle the IHP Process is a stand-alone process accepting a lower grade phosphate feed and needing heaps of silica. R
2O
3 (Fe
2O
3 + Al
2O
3) can still be an issue, but most likely addressed, either by wet screening or by a separate flotation plant, if necessary. The potential for integration with this processing plant is limited.
My view is that if the latest IHP trials prove successful, then the next step in commercialisation would be to build a scaled up, but not full scale, IHP plant at Baobab. This is a lower risk development strategy for both JDC and AEV. AEV would have an established mine and revenue stream from a conventional plant. If the up-scaled IHP plant fails or encounters difficulty then it will not impact their existing revenue stream, although it will undoubtedly cost them a big chunk of capital. AEV is a shareholder in JDC and keen to see the technology succeed and thus a friendly counter-party. If things do go wrong, then far better to sort it out amongst friends than lawyer up and see them in court!
