Ardea Resources Limited (ASX:ARL) has moved a step ahead in the development of the Goongarrie Nickel Cobalt Project as their pilot plant trial has returned battery grade crystals of nickel and cobalt sulphate.
The component of nickel and cobalt sulphate are the most important ingredient in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries but not all orebodies go with the quality that is required to be produced.
Ardea Resources told that the battery grade crystals produced in the piloting process has met the strict specification laid down by the many battery industryâs off takers including trading houses and electric car manufacturers.
Executive Chair of Ardea Resources Katina Law stated that the pilot plant trial has demonstrated a high-quality product that can be produced from the ore at Goongarrie and it will be critical during companyâs current search for a strategic partner and potential off-takers.Â
Along with reporting the successful results from pilot plant trail at Goongarrie, the company has also released its quarterly report for the three months ended 30 September 2018.
During this quarter, metallurgical test work, approvals and resource programs for the companyâs flagship Goongarrie Nickel Cobalt Project (GNCP) in Western Australia has continued to develop. The infill drilling at Goongarrie has reportedly been completed after covering the extended pit areas to 2.25Mtpa. From these extended operations at Goongarrie orebody, the company estimates a pre-tax net present value (NPV) of ~A$3.1 billion, with a pre-tax IRR of ~31% and a payback period of 5.1 years for a 2.25Mtpa operation.
The management advised that programs including Goongarrie flora, fauna, hydrology, geotechnical design and material characterisation are underway to finalise the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) referral.
Meanwhile, the ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study drilling program has confirmed the high-grade interceptions of nickel-cobalt-scandium at the Pamela Jean Deeps orebody, told Ardea.
On exploration front, the structural interpretation at companyâs Gold-Nickel asset in Western Australia, Mount Zephyr has been reportedly completed.  It has been informed that the broader architecture of Mount Zephyr is much similar to that of the structural system in Yamarna greenstone belt.
After completing the relogging and resampling of the historic drill core during the quarter, Ardea now has an Orange-based NSW management team to manage the Lewis Ponds project, 100% company owned zinc-gold-silver-copper deposit in New South Wales.
Road connectivity what they labelled as âworld-classâ is one of the major advantages that company enjoys in the Australiaâs key mining capital, Kalgoorlie. Moreover, as at 30 September 2018, companyâs cash position was $15.8 million.
Ms. Katina Law further informed that samples of nickel and cobalt sulphate crystals which have been produced during pilot plant trial will now be sent to interested parties for evaluation.
Ahead of releasing battery grade crystals results and decent development and exploration activities undertaken in September 2018 quarter, Ardea share price has witnessed a bull market in daily trade session today. ARL stock has gone up by 1.887% to $0.540 on 31 October 2018 (1:06 PM AEST). But, in the past one year the stock price of Ardea Resources has immensely fallen by 54.89%.
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