Economic Study
A NI 43-101 compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) on Pitombeiras prepared by GE21 Consultoria Mineral was published in February 2021, which highlighted Pitombeiras’ robust economics and excellent potential to become a profitable producer of Ferrovanadium concentrate (62%/65% Fe, plus V2O5 credit). To increase the level of confidence and define the optimal production route, the Company commissioned a Full Feasibility Report in late 2021. During its preparation, it became evident that an expansion of the saleable commodity basket to include TiO2 would likely be beneficial to the Project’s economics. This updated report was published in April 2022 and again demonstrated the robust project economics. Presently, the evaluation of the Fe 62% and V2O5 has been completed to a Feasibility Study standard, while the inclusion of the TiO2 remains at a PEA level. The Company is now in dialogue with leading Brazilian based technical consultancy GE21 on finalising the Feasibility Study, embracing all the three commodities to crystalise the development path to construct a low CAPEX direct shipping ore (‘DSO’) mining operation.
The number below are for a high-grade Fe/V2O5 concentrate and TiO2.
OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW
- Annual production 186,000t of Fe 62% / V2O5 and 66,000t TiO2 at production/processing rate of 600,000tpa
- Life of Mine (‘LOM’) approximately 9 years based only on the current estimated minable resource of 5.5Mt - no pre-stripping foreseen
- Total LOM Mineable Resources: 5.1Mt M&I plus 3.16Mt Inferred
- LOM average strip ratio: 1.6 t/t Waste/Ore
- Total tonnages produced forecast of:
- Fe/ V2O5: 1,740,000t
- TiO2: 605kt
- Exploration potential to increase LOM remains open
FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
- US$96.5 million NPV @ 8% discount rate
- 100.3% post-tax IRR
- US$415.2 million total gross revenue
- US$145.9 million post-tax, undiscounted operating cash flow
- Post-tax payback period of 13 months
- US$18.45 million CAPEX (US$2.25 million for TiO2)
- US$1.26 per tonne mined average operating cost
- US$19.39 per tonne of Fe V2O5 concentrate processed average operating cost
- US$ 12.48 per tonne of TiO2 processed average operating cost
The pricing for the economic evaluation used was as follows. The Fe/V2O5 concentrate was US$165.64/t, U$120/t for the Fe component and US$45.64 for the V2O5. A price of US$220/t was used for the TiO2. The Company does not anticipate that the inclusion of the titanium to feasibility standard will result in a material deviation from the Technical Report conclusions and there remains no geological, economic, or legal impediment to proceeding to production.