Ban Phuc

The 150 sq km Ban Phuc property is located 160 km west of Hanoi near Ban Phuc Village in Son La Province, in the northwest of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

There are two deposit types at Ban Phuc: a disseminated sulphide deposit and a massive sulphide vein deposit. Total ore reserves stood at 1.01Mt at 2.4% nickel, 1.0% copper, 0.08% cobalt.

Underground mining will employ uphole retreat benching and benching with dry fill. Both mining methods are suited to mechanization using diesel powered equipment with anticipated production rates of between 250,000 and 250,000 tonnes per annum. Access to the underground will be via two portals. The design air flow is planned at 290 cubic metres per second.

It is expected that during the initial development of the underground mine the waste material will be mostly non acid forming with an estimated maximum quantity of potentially acid forming waste of 10,000 cubic metres.

Mine production is scheduled over a 5.5 year period at annual production rates of up to 250,000 tpa.

Ban Phuc ore will be processed by conventional flotation to produce a nickel copper concentrate with cobalt credits. The process plant design basis is 300,000 tpa and 8,000 operating hours per year. The ore processing plant will comprise a three stage crushing plant; a ball mill with cyclone cluster; rougher and cleaner flotation cells, and a concentrate thickener and filter.

Concentrate will be packed into bulka-bags and transported by road to Hai Phong port for export to Asian smelters.