Acoje Project - Philippines

Background

The Acoje mine was one of the world's largest metallurgical chromite suppliers producing over 3.3 million tonnes of chromium concentrate from 1935 to 1991. Early in the mines history distinctive black dunite horizons were located several hundred metres east of the extensive and thick chromite zones. Sampling confirmed that the black dunite contained appreciable quantities of nickel sulphides, PGMs (platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium and iridium), copper, gold, cobalt and chromite. High nickel prices in the late 1960's prompted surface and underground exploration, mine development and the establishment of a sulphide concentrate plant. Mining took place from 1971 to 1975 with nickel concentrate, containing platinum and palladium (Pt+Pd), sold to Japan for smelting.

Acoje: A potential low cost Asian nickel mine

The advanced Acoje nickel project is strategically located on the Philippine island of Luzon, just two shipping days from China – the main target market for its planned output of nickel concentrate.

The project’s nickel laterite mineralisation is a tropical laterite that contains two layers - an upper iron rich soft limonite zone, and an underlying nickel rich harder saprolite horizon. 

The structure and grade of the mineralisation has provided and continues to provide ongoing opportunities for spot sales from mining of Direct Ship Ore material at the deposit ahead of the main drive towards a large-scale commercial nickel mine.
 
Rusina completed a prefeasibility study on Acoje in 2008 – those findings outlining an economically viable nickel project based on a modest US$6/lb nickel price with a 10-year mine life embedded in an initial resource of 30.8 Mt at 1.12% nickel and 0.05% cobalt.

Further studies and drilling since have suggested the 3 million tonne a year project could provide a successful nickel-chrome mining operation for at least twice that period, with the current resource now in excess of 50Mt and rising as broad-based infill drilling continues as part of the current Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) at Acoje and Rusina’s neighbouring Zambales nickel-chrome deposits.

Based on Filipino economic laws, Acoje’s processing stage is able to fall within a ‘Special Economic Zone’, giving the proposed mine a six-year tax holiday and a modest corporate tax rate of 5% after that.

Other emerging economic indicators are providing even greater project confidence.

A 2009 re-costing by China Tianchen Engineering Corporation (TCC) of the 2008 prefeasibility study, estimated that Chinese construction and materials should reduce Acoje’s eventual capital costs by about 15%.

TCC, which is providing construction engineering advice to Rusina’s Acoje partner,  European Nickel, in the current development of that company’s new Caldag nickel heap leach mine in Turkey, has been appointed to manage the engineering scoping within Acoje’s DFS, with final findings due in July 2010.

European Nickel is earning a 40% project interest in Acoje by fully funding the US$10 million DFS. All permitting approvals for the full project development are expected to be granted by the end of 2009.

Scheduling of a 3,000 tonne trial acid heap leaching operations over the remainder of 2009 and into 2010 is now underway at Acoje, applying European Nickel’s proven in-house technology to confirm the heap percolation and leach rates of a full-scale operation. Trials of the low-cost, low-impact technology – extensively trialled and currently being commercialised at Caldag – are due for completion in May 2010.

The heap leaching trials have also been designed to confirm to the Philippine Government and local communities, the safe and environmentally benign nature of the process.

Separate to the nickel focus, Rusina maintains a stake in additional chromite and Platinum Group Metal (PGMs - platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium and iridium) mineralisation at Acoje and which are external to the partnership agreement with European Nickel. Talks with third parties to progress exploration and development of these opportunities, are ongoing.

Click here to view maps and table data for this project.