We have many bridges to cross and stages of development to move through but at the moment there is not a great deal to chat about apart from suppositions for the future and awaiting progress updates. I have some confidence that by the end of March we will have some more positivity and substantive news regarding plant and further funding.
.I have remained fascinated by the first potential 100,000tpa magnesium plant for a number of reasons. First, obviously because of its significant potential financial impact for both the company and longer-term shareholders. Secondly, the location and association with partners and renewable resources as they relate to efficiency and the goal of Net Zero Co2. Thirdly, the feedstock for the 100,000tpa plant has been clearly identified as ferro nickel slag for many reasons. In addition, what potential companies have the most to gain by aligning themselves with the LMG technology and licencing?
.For me, based upon the fact that LMG have stated that the Zero Co2 emissions are only possible via the ferro nickel slag feedstock and that the fly ash reduces Co2 by~60%, I will remain focused on the ferro nickel slag for this discussion.
.I have performed a number of researches and have verified that for every 1 tonne of nickel produced, there are 4 tonnes of ferro nickel slag produced as waste. The amount of ferro nickel slag around the world being produced primarily as waste every year is astonishing!
.Largest Nickel Producer in the world
.“Vale is the world’s largest producer of nickel, one ofthe most versatile metals in existence. It owns nickel mines and operations in Brazil,Canada, Indonesia and New Caledonia, as well as fully-owned andjoint-venture refineries in China, South Korea, Japan, the UK and Taiwan.”
.“Vale’s 2020 nickel productionwas estimated to be 214,700 metric tonnes.”
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Again, for every tonne of nickel produced there are 4 tonnes of ferronickel slag produced.
Therefore, 214700 = 858,800tonnes of ferro nickel slag per year!
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Though Vale is the largest, it is only one of many companies over the world, so I would say easy 2 to 3 million tonnes of ferro nickel slag per annum! How much slag over the last 5 or 10 years?!) The numbers are staggering. The slag is a world-wide environmental catastrophe and LMG has the tech to make a substantial difference imo.
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Example 1. Largest Nickel mine in the world
.“PT Vale – Indonesia, LargestNickel producer in the world. Soroako, also spelled Sorowako, is a small miningtown in the north-east of South Sulawesi province, in the centre of Sulawesiisland in Indonesia. It is the location of the Sorowako Mine,[1] which is thelargest open-pit mine in Indonesia, owned by PT Inco, a subsidiary of theCanadian based mining companyVale Inco.”
.“Our integrated mining andprocessing facilities are in Sorowako, South Sulawesi. Our production linesproduce nickel matte of 75,000 metric tonnes per year. 4 tonnes of ferronickelslag per 2 tonne of nickel.”
.(75000 x 4 = 300,000tpa offerronickel slag. That is a massive amount of feedstock and a tragic environmental problem that needs LMG's Hydromet process.!)
.“We built and operate threehydropower plants with a total capacity of 365 Megawatts. PT Valehas been using clean energy since the early years of the Company's operations. ThePT Vale Hydroelectric plants use three cascading dams along the LaronaRiver in Indonesia. The three cascading dams are designed to maintain thehydroelectric output throughout the dry season.”
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https://aip.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.5095269. .
.According to the calculations performed by @jumpstart LMG's 100,000 Mg tpa = 11.4 Mg tph x 6.6 MWh /Mg tonne = 75.3 MW continuously from hydro. LMG’s hydroelectric draw would be a drop in the water when needing hydro from the Larona River hydroelectric plants. Pun intended.
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Example 2.“The AraguaiaNickel Project Horizonte is developing its 100% owned Araguaia Nickel Project(Araguaia) as Brazil’s next major ferronickel mine. Araguaia is a Tier 1 miningproject with a high-grade scalable resource, located south of the CarajásMining District in the Pará State, north Brazil. The area has a well-developedinfrastructure, including roads, rail, and hydroelectric power as aresult of the sustained mining activity in Carajás.”
“After an initial ramp-upperiod, the plant will reach a full capacity of approximately 900,000 tonnes ofdry ore feed per year to produce 52,000 tonnes of ferronickel, in turncontaining 14,500 tonnes of nickel per year.”
https://horizonteminerals.com/uk/en/araguaia_project/
(14500tpa x 4 = 58,000tpa of ferro nickel slag with a 28yr life of mine (LOM) = 1,624,000 tonnes of ferro nickel slag.) That sounds like another incredible opportunity.
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There are many others I have identified as potential, including Americ and of course Japan, which has significant Hydroelectric power and also produces nickel and has an offtake agreement with LMG. I am just showing how hydro is a definite possibility before solar and some examples of how Nickel production which produces 4t of slag per tonne of nickel can be integrated with Hydroelectricity and then with magnesium production.
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I envisage far greater integration of production for multiple products and significant cost reductions and Co2 reductions for coal and nickel producers across the globe!
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Personally, I find the scope simply amazing (No pump, just my personal analysis)
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I then went on further to investigate the top 5 Nickel producers in the world, that in itself is an interesting read.
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https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/top-nickel-producing-companies/
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.Number 5.
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Australia’s own, BHP Group – 87,400 metric tonnes pa (349,600tpaferro nickel slag)
.“Previously known as BHP Billiton,Melbourne-headquartered, Anglo-Australian diversified mining company BHP Groupincreased its nickel production from 70,000 metric tonnes in 2017 to 87,400tonnes in 2019.”
“All its nickel operations―whetheropen-cut or underground mines, concentrators, smelters or refineries – arelocated in Western Australia.”
.“One such operation is BHP‘s fully-integratedmine-to-market nickel business Nickel West, located in Kalgoorlie, Australia.”Nickel West is a major value add throughout BHP’s nickel supply chain, as mostof its current production is sold in the international market as high-qualitynickel metal.”
.I have also seen on their site forKalgoorlie, a very large solar farm that appears to be part of the integratedoperation.
.“BHP Group recently purchased nickeltenements in the form of the Honeymoon Well Nickel Project inWestern Australia; formerly a unit of Norilsk Nickel. The deal marks the exitof the Russian miner from the country.” Yayyyyy!!!!!
.LMG have an amazing and very rare synergy to offer!
Put Australia first is what I would suggest and commend.
A partnership with BHP would be a quest worth pursuing urgently in my mind.
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All IMO.
.Kind Regards
.Ken
