EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT

Cardinal weighing up Namdini options

Positive PEA for Namdini

MiningNews.Net
Cardinal weighing up Namdini options

Namdini has been making headlines in the past 18 months as Cardinal has advanced the project through to the latest PEA milestone. Along the way, it has brought in Gold Fields as an investor and continued to show off high-grade intercepts from an aggressive drill campaign.

Cardinal evaluated three production throughput rates in the PEA - 4.5 million tonnes per annum, 7Mtpa and 9.5Mtpa - using Namdini's indicated and inferred resource of 4.1 million ounces at 1.1 grams per tonne gold and metallurgical recoveries of 90% for oxides and 86% for fresh ore.

The scenarios envisaged average annual gold production of 159,000 ounces per annum to 330,000ozpa at an all-in sustaining cost of US$701 per ounce to $794/oz.  

While all resulted in positive returns, the 9.5Mtpa scenario came with the highest post-tax (5% discount) net present value - $649 million - at the same time as requiring the most upfront capital at $426 million and providing the shortest mine life (14 years). All scenarios used a $1300/oz gold price. 

The smallest option required $275 million of development capital and came with a mine life of 27 years at the 4.5Mtpa rate. 

Cardinal said the preferred scale of development is to be selected following completion of feasibility studies.

In addition, it is weighing up the option of a phased expansion at Namdini commencing at 4.5Mtpa. 

With drilling continuing, Cardinal plans to update the resource base this quarter.

It is also working on a prefeasibility study that will further flesh out Namdini's metallurgy, the higher-grade starter pit, plant design and costings and mining and processing costs.  

The company's stock was down 5.6% yesterday to A50.5c.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the mining sector, brought to you by the Mining News Intelligence team.

editions

Mining Company ESG Index: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The Mining Company ESG Index report provides an in-depth evaluation of ESG performance of 61 of the world's largest mining companies. Using a robust framework, it assesses each company across 9 meticulously weighted indicators within 6 essential pillars.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2024: Net Zero

Gain insights into decarbonisation trends and strategies from interviews with 20+ top mining executives and experts plus an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Project Pipeline Handbook 2024

View our 50 top mining projects, handpicked using a unique, objective selection process from a database of 450+ global assets.

editions

MiningNews.net Research Report 2024

Access a multi-pronged tool to identify critical risks and opportunities in Australia’s mining industry.