A prospective copper, nickel and scandium project nears two key milestones: Greenstone Resources

Gold and battery metals explorer Greenstone Resources (ASX: GSR) expects to deliver two key milestones by early to mid July for its Mt Thirsty Copper-Nickel-Manganese-Scandium Project in WA. 

Mt Thirsty has a current JORC Resource of 26.9 million tonnes at 0.126% cobalt and 0.54% nickel based on its February 2020 pre-feasibility study. The project is a 50/50 joint venture between Greenstone and base metal explorer Conico (ASX: CNJ). 

A Phase-1 Drilling Campaign in January this year returned successful hits including:

• Sixth best cobalt intercept in Australia for 2022

• High-grade nickel, cobalt and scandium mineralisation

• Continuous nickel mineralisation and anomalous PGE mineralisation

• Assays still pending for a collective 26 holes

• The results “highlight the outstanding prospectivity and potential for future scandium resource” – an essential commodity for hydrogen fuel cells

Two Upcoming Milestones: Scoping Study and Mineral Resources Estimate

Greenstone has commenced both a Scoping Study and Mineral Resource Estimate to incorporate a number of recently identified project optimisations and recent drill results. The company expects to complete the two milestones by early-mid July and April respectively.

The scoping study seeks to provide more economic visibility into key downstream processes that could “potentially transform” Mt Thirsty’s project economics. This includes the adoption and research of: 

• Precursor Cathode Active Material (pCAM): pCAM is a cobalt-nickel-manganese substance used in the production of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. It’s a product that typically “receives a ~50% pricing premium over the intermediary product” and Mt Thirsty contains all three of the key constituents.

• High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL): HPAL is the process used to extract nickel, cobalt, manganese and scandium from oxide orebodies. The adoption of HPAL at Mt Thirsty is expected to improve  cobalt and nickel recoveries, resulting in higher production and more life of mine revenue.

• Additional studies: This includes factors such as process design, tailings management, site infrastructure and reporting. 

A Cobalt-Nickel Divestment

Greenstone says the Scoping Study will “provide a foundation for the future consolidation and IPO of the Mt Thirsty Project later this year, followed by a Pre-Feasibility study that will target a low-cost, ethical and sustainable source of cobalt and nickel.”

Under the proposed divestment, Mt Thirsty will represent a battery-metal oriented listing. While Greenstone will retain its core gold projects including the Burbanks Gold Mine and Phoenix Gold Project – both located in Coolgardie, WA.