Mt thirsty

The Mt Thirsty cobalt, nickel and manganese oxide project covers an area of 12 square kilometres, about 20 kilometres, north northwest of Norseman, in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia.

The Mt Thirsty Base Metal Deposit is Completely Oxidised

The mineralisation of the Mt Thirsty deposit differs considerable from the usual Western Australian laterite occurrences in that it contains high cobalt values and is completely oxidised. This type of mineralogy allows for atmospheric leaching technology to be used in the mineral recovery process with a return of around 80 percent nickel and 95 percent cobalt. A process that doesn't require problematic and expensive autoclaves that require the ore to be placed in a particular type of vessel that forces oxidation to occur.

Mt Thirsty Project to be a low cost Mining Operation

Because the Mt Thirsty deposit is already intensely oxidised mining of the ore body will be very low cost, as it won't require blasting to ready the ore for excavation. Another favourable feature is that most of the deposit is flat and shallow and occurring between 10 and 15 metres from the surface. High grade resource zones at the Mt Thirsty deposit are generally closest to the surface, this will allow the deposit to remain high grade throughout the first three of four years of mining.

Mt Thirsty has Potential to Become a World Class Project

The Mt Thirsty ore body is outstanding in that it is potentially a world deposit, according the pre-feasibility work and metallurgical testing that has been carried out so far. It could become one of the world's top ten cobalt mines in that it could supply 13,000 tonnes of manganese, 9,000 tonnes of nickel and 3,000 tonnes of cobalt a year for its first three years.

Consultants Advise on Best Leaching Method to Treat Mt Thirsty Ore

Mining consultants RMDSTEM completed metallurgical tests of the Mt Thirsty ore body in 2012 that suggested successful leaching of the oxide resource could be obtained using sodium metabisulphite which would allow for low cost capital and operating costs that would return maximum metal recovery rates. However, further testing carried out in 2013, that involved modifications to the INNOVAT -CVL process, discovered an even cheaper and more efficient option would result from using sulphur dioxide in preference to metabisulphite as the main leaching agent. It was also found that an agitated leaching process gave better results than continuous vat leaching.

Mt Thirsty Project is a Joint Venture Between Barra Resources and Conico Limited

The Mt Thirsty project is a Joint Venture mining development operation shared 50/50 between Barra Resources Limited, which is also the project manager, and Conico Limited, through its fully owned subsidiary, Meteore Metals Limited. The Joint Venture partners are also exploring for nickel sulphides within their Mt Thirsty tenements.