23 Jun 2008 12:37
23 June 2008
Talvivaara Mining Company Plc
Talvivaara signs cooperation agreement with Outokumpu Oyj to conduct a feasibility study on manganese production at the Talvivaara Mine
Talvivaara Mining Company Plc ("Talvivaara" or the "Company") announces today that it has signed a Cooperation Agreement (the "Agreement") with Outokumpu Oyj ("Outokumpu") to conduct a feasibility study on manganese production at the Talvivaara Mine. The feasibility study will encompass an evaluation of the technical and commercial feasibility of employing electrowinning technology for the extraction of manganese metal and/or manganese oxide from the leach solution generated from Talvivaara's bioheapleaching process.
The ore at the Talvivaara deposits has a manganese content of approximately 0.3%, which should enable annual production of more than 30,000 tonnes of manganese, according to the Company's present production plan. Over the last two years, Talvivaara has conducted a pre-feasibility study on the extraction of manganese and obtained encouraging results for the electrolytic recovery of high-purity manganese metal and manganese oxide from the leach solution. In the bioheapleaching process, recovery of manganese has been found to be comparable to that of nickel and zinc.
Outokumpu is an international stainless steel company with production plants in Finland, Sweden, Britain and the United States, and has a continuous need for base metal alloys such as nickel, ferrochrome, molybdenum and manganese in its production.
Commenting on the announcement, Talvivaara's CEO, Pekka Pera, said: "The potential to produce manganese at the Talvivaara mine is a bonus over and above our strongly developing nickel operations and it is part of our long term strategy to expand the scope of our business. As well as potentially generating additional cash flow to the Company, the commercial production of manganese would also reduce the environmental burden of our operations and create savings in operating costs by eliminating manganese removal in the water purification process.
We are particularly delighted to be working on this project with Outokumpu, a leading stainless steel producer with unrivalled expertise in this area."
"Outokumpu is very pleased to be involved in the feasibility study, because Outokumpu is a significant user of manganese", states Pekka Erkkilä, EVP, from Outokumpu.
ENQUIRIES
Talvivaara Mining Company Ltd Tel: +358 20 7129 800
Pekka Perä
Saila Miettinen-Lähde
Outokumpu Oyj
Niilo Suutala Tel: +358 40 734 1767
Merlin Tel: +44 207 653 6620
Tom Randell
Anca Spiridon
NOTES TO EDITORS
Company Overview
Talvivaara and its subsidiary Talvivaara Project Ltd aims to become an internationally significant base metals producer with its primary focus on nickel and zinc using a technology known as bioheapleaching to extract metal out of low grade ore
The Company's main activity is the development and exploitation of two polymetallic deposits, Kuusilampi and Kolmisoppi, in Sotkamo, Finland (together, the "Talvivaara deposits") using bioheapleaching technology (the "Talvivaara Project")
The Talvivaara deposits comprise one of the largest known sulphide nickel resources in Europe with 266 million tonnes of ore in measured and indicated resources
Resources are sufficient to support anticipated production for a minimum of 24 years, expected to start in late 2008, with an expected annual nickel output of approximately 33,000 tonnes; the Company has the potential to provide approximately 2.3% of the world's current annual production of nickel by 2010
In addition to the mining of nickel, as by-products of the process, the mine is also expected to produce zinc (approximately 60,000 tpa), copper (approximately 10,000 tpa) and cobalt (approximately 1,200 tpa)
The mine site is situated close to existing energy and transportation infrastructure
The Group plans to develop the Talvivaara deposits using bioheapleaching technology
Bioheapleaching harnesses locally occurring, live bacteria for the extraction of metals from ore
This technology is already widely used for other metals, notably copper and gold
During the last two years, the Group has demonstrated the viability of using the bioheapleaching technology for the extraction of nickel in large on-site pilot trials
The Talvivaara orebody is well-suited for open pit mining due to the thin overburden, favourable resource geometry and a low waste to ore ratio
The ore has a nickel content of 0.27 per cent. and is well-suited to bioheapleaching due to both its high sulphide content and its low pH, which enables rapid leaching with reduced need for chemical catalysis
The Company has secured a 10-year off-take agreement for 100 per cent. of its main product output of nickel and cobalt to Norilsk Nickel
With good infrastructure, progressive mining laws, subsidy policies and economically and politically stable operating environment and readily available mining expertise, Finland provides a favourable environment for operating a mine