NEWS

7 December 2009

Simulus is pleased to announce that is has been awarded funding under the Commonwealth Climate Ready grants scheme to develop a low carbon emitting nickel laterite production process.

Project work to develop the production flowsheet commenced in November, and will enable laterite nickel miners to reduce capital and operating costs by replacing the traditional limestone neutralisation stage of nickel laterite processing, with a carbon friendly flowsheet.

Brett Muller, Simulus’ managing director, said “This grant is a step in the right direction and I believe that it will deliver a process improvement and help Australia maintain its position as a leader in developing best mining practices.”

On completion, the 18 month project will help nickel laterite producers to realise:

· up to 300,000 tonnes per year reduction in carbon emissions;

· the production of less solid wastes on site leading to 15-30% smaller tailing storage facilities.

“Approximately 70% of the world’s nickel resources are laterite ores and a more sustainable means of nickel processing is required if we are going to reduce carbon emissions globally whilst continuing with nickel production,” Mr Muller said.

An independent study by engineering consultancy Simulus found the Mt Thirsty deposit – an equal joint venture between Barra and uranium-focused Fission Energy – could produce around 3700 tonnes of cobalt, 10,300t of nickel and 27,000t of manganese per annum in its first three years.
If the targeted cobalt output is reached, it would see Mt Thirsty ranked the world’s fourth-largest cobalt producer.

After the news of the study was announced, Barra stocks skyrocketed 126% from an opening price of 5.3c to 12c. Shares later cooled to end the day on 9.3c. However, the market delivered a mixed response to the news at Fission Energy. Having last traded at 13c on January 5, Fission stocks opened down 53% at 6c before doubling in value to 12c. Company shares closed slightly lower at 11.5c.

The study, which forms part of the Mt Thirsty pre-feasibility study, found the deposit could be developed into a 2 million tonne per annum open cut mine at an estimated capital cost of $US400 million ($A608 million).

Mt Thirsty contains a JORC resource of 26Mt at 0.56% nickel, 0.14% cobalt and 0.88% manganese.

Barra and Fission expect to complete a bankable feasibility study at the project by the end of this year.

GME commences NiWest nickel laterite project feasibility study process plant design

GME Resources has appointed Simulus to undertake the first phase of the Process Plant Design for the Feasibility Study for its 100%-owned Niwest Nickel Laterite Project in Western Australia. The Feasibility Study is based on an expanded 30-35,000 tonne production profile.
Download ASX Release (11 June 2008)

ALTA 2008
Tim Newton and Brett Muller were speakers at the 2008 ALTA conference. Click on the links below to view the papers presented.

Simulus is proud to announce the development of a dynamic heap leach simulation product. This product is now available for rapid delivery to meet your heap leach design, operations and debottlenecking needs.

Simulus recognise that many clients can benefit from the use of simulation but do not have the individual time, money or requirement for a fully custom solution. However, every heap leach is different. To meet your needs Simulus has invested in and developed a customisable product. We can deliver a version tailored to your plant or project in days.

For projects under development this means a better design. No more fixed rate flows for design of equipment. Now you can provide a distribution of flow rates for pipe, pump and downstream circuit design, greatly improving your confidence that the plant will deliver what it needs to.

For existing operators, production forecasts are generated that account for variable leach cycles, ore types and operating conditions. The impact of rain and evaporation allow seasonal variations to be accounted for. Now you can demonstrate realistic production forecasts and expansion programs.

Simulus is proud to announce that we are the Australian agent for the OLI suite of simulation software. OLI is the world leader in simulation of electrolyte systems. The OLI Engine combines property models, solvers and databanks to provide rigorous prediction of chemical reactions and phase behaviour of complex aqueous systems.

OLI can be applied in most hydrometallurgical processes to improve understanding of process chemistry, reduce pilot testing requirements and support design decisions. Ongoing research is extending OLI capabilities to include more extreme conditions of temperatures and ionic strengths.The OLI Simulation Studio includes: