Member Info for Bamps21

The Box cut geology Part1
Quaternary Superficial
Undifferentiated COVER (aeolian sand, alluvium, and evaporates)
5-15m thick.

QUATERNARY/PERMIAN UNCONFORMITY Permian Paterson
Upper Mudstone (UMW) 95-105m thick
Upper Tillite (UMT) 60m thick
Upper Siltstone (LCS) 85m thick
Middle Sandstone (LST) 25m thick
Lower Siltstone (LSL) 35 m thick
Lower Tillite (LFT) 95m thick

Deep Sands are wind-blown aeolian sands associated with sand dunes present throughout the landscape. These soils are dominated by fine sands with no appreciable silt or clay and no pedological development.
• Gradational Loams are characterised by a thin layer of wind-blown aeolian sands that grade rapidly to sandy loam, with a gradual increase in clay content from clay loam to light clay at depth. The influence of wind-blown aeolian sands are less apparent in these soils.
• Gradational Sands are similar to the Deep Sands, except for a change in texture from sand to loam in the deeper B horizon. These soils are characterised by a buried horizon at depth that represents the original soil profile that was covered in wind-blown aeolian sands.
During mining, extraction of resources is proposed to first be undertaken from within the boxcut area and then later, from the decline, with approximately 260,000 m3 of waste proposed to be extracted during this process.
The boxcut area consists of surface layers that have undergone soil forming processes (tertiary cover), and the saprolith positioned below the pedolith that has properties similar to those of the underlying parent material (fresh rock). There are two major horizons in the saprolith, Saprolite and Saprock (Completely Weathered/Oxidised). The base of complete oxidation (BOCO) tends to be approximately 10-50 m below the surface, and the top of the fresh rock (TOFR) approximately 25-100 m below the surface.
• All materials except for the Tertiary Cover, Upper Tillite and Lower Tillite, have clay contents >10% in addition to a considerable proportion of silt and fine sand content. This indicates that these materials have the greatest risk of structural decline, given these materials are also prone to particle breakdown.
• Lower Tillite recorded the highest rock densities and lowest water absorption values. Rock strength was observed to vary based on depth, with Lower Tillite extracted from depths of ~330- 470 m exhibiting highest average rock density and lowest average water absorption, therefore this material is highly suitable for use as a rock armour on outer landform faces.

Hi Hydrogen
That's the Northern end of Blackbeard, those 5 drills are to prove whether Kraken and Blackbeard are joined together in my opinion.
If you look at the IP cross sections there showing the same cover about 150-200m.
The North end of Blackbeard is just as big as Kraken, I personally can't see it being an open pit, especially with both opening out down below.
Saddlereef definitely
ATB:))

Hi Mickey
I'm with you there, anything like Had5 everyone better get their rocket drawings out :)))

Hi Mickey
If Kraken turns out to be as big as it looks and NCM go all out again to get it to the same stage as Havieron now, how far do you think they will get in 18 months?
It could be 2 or 3 times the size.
To be able to get to a mining study stage and the first MRE viability stage could be way over 2 years at the same speed they are going now.
Mining is a slow steady growth of knowledge normally, which is why Havieron is so special
ATB:))

Kraken, Blackbeard, London ie Scallywag is 150m to 200m from surface to top of ore that's still a long way down.
It is still an early stage exploration project, mining it is still a long way off.
It will need extensive drilling like Havieron, which may have cost in excess of $100m.
Scallywag may cost $200-300m to bring it to a Pre feasibility stage, this may take 2 to 3 years of drilling it won't go at the same pace as Havieron, NCM have no need to go that fast.
If ore is needed quicker than Havieron can produce it, then Saddlereef is there poking out of the ground. The grades maybe low but very easy to get at and the licence is more advanced than Scallywag. A mining licence could be applied for in 2021.

Hi Strudel
one company I was looking at a couple of months back had sent 17,000m of cores to the lab. Unfortunately I can't remember which one but it may have been the Grace licence to the south.
Where it's mainly gold the hand held scanners aren't conclusive enough so they probably had to send more of the cores for analysis.
Artemis on the other hand sent a lot of their cores to storage, the cut off % may have been too low. I can't remember how many they did send to the lab.
Ggp didn't do that many core drills but would have a fair few bags from The RC drills. We've been told very little of how many cores were sent to the lab but I would imagine a fair % have .
The amount of elements in the MMI results found would require a far more detailed analysis of the cores and take longer .
I have been hoping for an earlier RNS but the New Year does look more likely.
SD doesn't work for us yet so I doubt he will have a say
ATB:))

The Bilby's are on the endangered species list.
Their burrows can go down to 2m deep
The Paterson region is only 1 of 3 or 4 areas left in Australia where they used to be widespread.
Great video on Youtube of the Currumbim Wildlife Sanctuary

There is a lot of info in the Newcrest Sustainability Report, they really look after the local inhabitants. If any body has any doubts about what happens to the locals I would recommend looking through that report but as far as I am concerned I have no doubt they will be looked after very well.
As far as the ecology report goes they only seem to be concerned about the Bilby concentrations in the NE corner, so there maybe less Mining activity in that area

Hi Aidin
I believe that's what the instrument measures it's the different flourences the energy wave length gives off.
ATB:))

Hi Paddy
On page 68 of that report yesterday was the best thing that happened on here yesterday.
The 3D image of the mine design.

You can pick out the proposed stoping tunnels, fascinating.

ATB:))

Hi Oil monkey
Electron orbitals - bit beyond my pay grade :))
This is my take how the XRF machine finds different elements , could be complete nonsense
The Atomic No for Cobalt is 27
Copper is 29
Those numbers indicate how many Protons are in the nucleus.
Hydrogen has 1 shell and 1 electron it's called a 1s, this electron is in its own orbit because it's not on a single plane it could be anywhere within the sphere or shell. This is called an orbital, each orbital can contain 2 electrons if an additional electron is added it gains energy and moves to a new shell and referred to as a 2s.
A 2s can have 4 electrons and move into dumb bells type orbitals called 2p
Add another electron and it gains energy and forms a 3s shell.
A 3s can have 6 electrons in dumb bells shaped orbitals and these are 3p orbitals.

This carries on with the atoms gaining energy
Other shapes of orbitals with higher levels of energy 6s, 6p, 6d 6f
The more energy the atom has then the more electrons it has.
The XRF x ray agitates the electrons allowing the instrument to measure their position and orbitals indicating what elements are there.

My head hurts :((

Hi Paddy
To be honest I can't see the Decline starting before June. Did you notice they concrete piled the floor entrance, they may have to do that and concrete ramp because of the sand/clay content.
I've built tarmac roads where the foundations were on peat then 2m of rolled stone with a plastic grid membrane every 600mm and then the road formation. That was in to Portbury docks and still there (fortunately)

Looking at the cross section through the box cut it looks about 200m long at 10degrees slope, so the Decline to 420m will be around 2,000m long. Drilling and blasting about 3 months IMO
Sept / Oct somewhere near ready to start excavation of the HGZ
The Pre feasibility study needs bulk sampling to help prove the viability of the mine before the Decline can continue on it's way.
ATB:))

Hi Paddy, Hydrogen
They are great videos.
The Portal Entrance can't be constructed like than either of these, when you look at the soil report it's sandy in nature with a >10% clay contact and subject to erosion.
In the Box cut video where they dug down you can see in the face of the wall a grid pattern of bolts. These are long stabilising bolts to hold the rock face together, this practice is no good for clay soils.
They will need a different solution such as an RC wall.

Regarding the Ponds they are only intending to drill the Raw Cell 1 at thi stage the others will follow on.
It looks like they are going to use material from the box cut to line the pond for the HDPE liner to sit on.

My timeline list came from the water extraction graph line chart

Page 68 I found fascinating, the 3D design looks great down to the top of the ore body. It shows a lot more than the plan.
They need to get the water extraction sorted before the Decline gets to the ore body as this is the base of an aquifer.

ATB:))

Hi Ipad
Cobalt is the last process after the copper cathode is produced.
The residue from the copper electrolysis is where the cobalt will come from.
It's then put through it's own electrolysis process to form a cobalt cathode.

Hard to say at this stage on quantities both NCM and Greatland have gone quiet on it.
I have been looking around and a guide of about 0.05% looks achievable, that would be about 240,000 tons which is a massive by product.
Especially at $33,000 a ton and may hit $100,000 by 2025

Only a rough guess till the processing starts
ATB:))

2021
January /Feb
Start Box cut, Evaporation Pond
Drainage and pipelines
March/April
Portal entrance walls and footings
Boxcut floor construction
May /June
Start Decline tunnel
Nov / Dec
Start ventilation shaft
2022 continue Decline
2023 Start excavating for Bulk Mining

Next year you will be witnessing the start of a big mine in operation
You own a bit of history:)))

Road
There is an initial waste rock site by the side of the new evaporation pond with a short road coming straight from the Box cut.
Another road skirts the pond and across the dunes to the road to Telfer.

The Decline design can clearly be seen in green and half way along the decline spiral. It's heading roughly to the Southern edge of the HGZ

roposed disturbance footprint for the evaporation pond.
1.4.5 Rights in Water and Irrigation Act 1914 (WA) (RIWI Act)
The following Licence to Take Water (Section 5C) approvals are in place:
• GWL204105(1) for the abstraction of 20,000 kL on E45/2962, E45/3261, E45/4701 and L45/537 for the service corridor water bores for road construction, maintenance and mineral exploration purposes;
• GWL202749(2) for the abstraction of 130,000 kL on E45/2962, E45/3261, E45/4701 and L45/537 for the mineral exploration and mining camp purposes.
An amendment to GWL202749(2) has been submitted to increase the abstraction of up to 1,550 ML/annum for Mine dewatering.

Planning for the road to Telfer must be well advanced.
E45/4701 is Scallywag I don't recognise the other 3.
So they have approval to extract water from boreholes from Scallywag for the road construction (probably dust control and surface water run off/oil separation) and for mining purposes.

The road layout is not going the way I thought it would head.
The Box cut is orientated SW -NE looking towards the centre of the ore, the road is heading SE and curving around the Eastern boundary with Artemis and then heading towards the camp in the NW corner.

Hi Oilmonkey
Yep that's my level
Only got an O level and it wasn't chemistry :))
ATB:))

Decline to start in 5-6 months after construction of box cut, portal and pond construction. Ventilation shaft in 12 months.

Hi Kevin
Once the hand held instruments have confirmed what elements are in the cores they will be sent to the lab.
Only cores with elements within the cut off zones will be sent to the lab the rest will go for storage.
If you look at Artemis last RNS they sent a lot to storage, I don't know how many cores went to the lab though
ATB:))