A Mega Mine, NSW lateritic clay belt, page-111

Hi All,
Good to see some differing perspectives on the Scandium development opportunities in central NSW laterites.

FYI I've got a cost estimate for Sunrise scandium oxide of US$446/Kg which I think came from their PFS. I couldn't find any update on that in the DFS and I guess as it is considered a byproduct of the Ni/Co development how they derive a cost for it is basically an accounting policy question.

My biggest concern for CLQ is that a Ni/Co focused laterite project requiring $US1.5B capital with a 19% IRR would find funding, even if fronted by Robert Friedland. Laterites are risky business, just ask Twiggy Forest or BHP!

This is just speculation on my part and someone with some mineral processing and refining expertise might be able to comment on the details, but why couldn't CLQ, AUZ & PGM while doing their own mining, co-operate on the end processing for specific compounds, i.e. CLQ process for nickle, AUZ process for scandium and AUZ for cobalt? That way they could optimise their own processing circuits for there target compounds and then truck the byproduct to the neighbouring plant for further processing into the other compounds. They would just have to work out how to credit each other based in their costs, such as MIN does when processing iron ore for others in the Pilbara. It would lower the capital requirements for the individual projects and by ensuring they are not eating each others lunch reduce the risk for everyone.