The company has commissioned the one million-tonne-per-annum capacity processing plant at the site
Nickel-copper-cobalt concentrate produced at Savannah. (Credit: Panoramic Resources Limited)
Panoramic Resources has produced the first nickel-copper-cobalt concentrate at its Savannah project in the East Kimberley, Western Australia.
The production comes with the commissioning of the company’s one million-tonne-per-annum capacity processing plant at Savannah.
The tailings processing, crushing, milling and flotation circuits at the processing plant have achieved operational stability, said Panoramic.
Primero, an Australian EPC company, has completely mobilised its processing team to the site after completing the required preparatory works.
The company is expected to begin concentrate haulage to Wyndham Port soon. Contractor Cambridge Gulf has already deployed a local workforce for concentrate haulage.
Panoramic Resources managing director and CEO Victor Rajasooriar said: “It’s fantastic to see the careful planning and hard work undertaken over the past 12 months culminate in the commencement of processing ahead of schedule.
“The leadership group at site and our business partner Primero have been working hard to deliver on the restart of the processing plant and have achieved this safely.
“We have been pleased with the performance of the plant through the commissioning phase and will now target ramp up to steady state production over the coming months.”
Earlier this year, Panoramic has awarded underground mining contract to Barminco, a subsidiary of mining services company Perenti, for the Savannah nickel mine.
Savannah is a nickel-copper-cobalt (Ni-Cu-Co) mine, located in Western Australia’s East Kimberley region, which is 110km north of Halls Creek.
Under the three-year contract, which is worth around A$200m ($135m), Barminco is responsible for the development, production, and haulage.
Panoramic is currently preparing to transport the concentrate to its offtake partner Jinchuan, with the first shipment planned for December this year.
Rajasooriar added: “As underground mining continues at Savannah and ore production steadily builds, the surface ore stockpile, which is currently sitting at over 120,000t, will provide consistent feed to the processing plant and reduce any risk to throughput rates.
“The timing of first concentrate production has also aligned well with prices for nickel, copper and cobalt, which have continued to show strength as the year progresses.”
“I am grateful and extremely proud to have such dedicated and hardworking employees on site, who, along with our focused business partners Primero, Barminco and their employees, have exhibited a strong culture of safety and diligence throughout the process.”