| |
Albidon weighs up Activox
David McKay
Posted: Tue, 14 Feb 2006
[miningmx.com] -- ALBIDON is to study the use of newly developed smelting technology, Activox, currently being developed by Lionore, a 35,000 ton/year nickel producer and explorer that is developing Botswana’s Tati nickel mine.
“We do intend going down to look at Activox in the next week or two,” said Dale Rogers, president and MD of Albidon. He was responding to a question at the Emerging Mining Congress held in Livingstone, Zambia.
Albidon, which is listed on Britain’s Alternative Investment Market and the Australian Stock Exchange, is digging the Munali nickel project in southern Zambia. According to Albidon, Munali has an indicated and inferred resource of 6.93 million tons grading at 1.4% nickel and 1g/t of platinum group metals.
The perception in the market is that Activox, which was being developed by Lionore to help liberate nickel commercially from more complex
orebodies, does not work. Lionore executive director, Peter Breese, said recently that this perception was misplaced. Barclays and Rand Merchant Bank are expected to express their comfort with the technology.
Analysts believe Activox will be a success. “Lionore’s testwork and Botswana demonstration plant continue to show that this technology is effective both technically and commercially,” said John Meyer, an analyst for Numis Securities in a recent report. “[I]t is capable of treating metallurgically complex ores which have not previously been economically viable,” he said.
“It’s [Activox] certainly an option and we’re following its development with some interest,” Rogers said. The trails of Activox is at the Tati nickel mine in Botswana which Rogers said was “close to us”.
Bank support for Activox and Albidon’s growing interest is a significant boost for Lionore. “The ability to bring on nickel output that cannot command smelter capacity is huge,” said
Breese in a recent interview at the Indaba Mining Conference in Cape Town.
The nickel market is benefiting from 4% to 6% annual growth. According to Numis, nickel prices could be set for another quantum leap.
“Nickel prices could jump by around $1,000/t relatively easily if the commodity trading funds and index funds move into the metal,” it said. “Their focus has been focussed on the larger and more liquid markets of copper, aluminium and gold but nickel is now looking left
| |
