Renascor Resources Ltd. has revealed a different staged approach to large-scale development of its Siviour graphite project on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula as potentially the "best of both worlds" option most likely to attract finance.
Renascor revealed in its prefeasibility study in March 2018 that it was weighing up a 200,000-tonne-per-annum small-scale plant for the first three years before ramping up to 1.85 Mtpa out to 30 years, or coming straight out with a 1.65 Mtpa plant.
Managing Director David Christensen told S&P Global Market Intelligence during a March 6 site visit that while the decision is yet to be made, the junior currently favors building an initial 825,000 tpa unit which would have first-quartile opex, and "be able to compete with anyone" in terms of cost.
While the capex on that would be higher than the US$29 million for the 200,000 tpa small-scale option, the 825,000 tpa option would require lower capex than the 1.65 Mtpa large-scale option, he said. Another identical one would then follow, made with the same modular design.
These considerations were critical, he said, because the company recognizes that "the financial hurdle is the hardest one to overcome," particularly for graphite projects, as none of its competitors, even producer Syrah Resources Ltd., has been able to get debt financing.
Christensen said that while going small-scale means getting into production a little sooner, may make funding easier, and enables Renascor to build market share as production expands, the economics "look so much better" on a larger scale.
"The best of both worlds option is by building one train [plant] then another, getting capital costs down to a more manageable level, but keeping the opex advantage," he said.
Renascor Projects General Manager Andrew Reeves said building two identical plants was attractive as it had no detailed design costs, most of the infrastructure is already in, the power line does not change between the first plant to the next, and the costs are less.
After the graphite is extracted from an open cut mine, the concentrate will be produced conventionally on site via crushing, grinding and a flotation circuit.
The product would then be trucked in shipping containers to the current preferred port at Port Adelaide, though that has not been confirmed yet as more options may present themselves.
Christensen said Port Lincoln, with its size, would be used "in a heartbeat" if not for port charges.
Port Adelaide, just over five hours' drive from Siviour, "nominally makes a lot of sense" as the spherical plant could also be positioned at the industrial hub there and the power would be cheaper than if the plant were to be at Siviour where it would draw more power and the grid connection would need to be upgraded.
Reeves added that one of Renascor's favorite sites is next door to the plant of a reagent supplier at Port Adelaide which has offered to install a special unit for the junior which would be fed salt to help produce the hydrochloric acid and caustic (sodium hydroxide) which is needed in the spherical plant process.
However, Christensen added there there might be a stronger possibility elsewhere with other initiatives at Whyalla getting off the ground, particularly the planned A$1.26 billion upgrade which billionaire Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance Ltd. is planning for steel works there.
Port Augusta, whose mayor Sam Johnson says is shaping up to be Australia's "renewables capital," is also an option given the investment going in there, Christensen said.
Reeves said Whyalla has not been ruled out, nor has Port Augusta or Port Pirie for the spherical plant, and potentially attractive "integrated port solutions" are being talked about at other locations including Cape Hardy about 30 kilometers from Siviour, and Tumby Bay which is about 30 kilometers southwest of Cape Hardy.
As energy will constitute 20% of Renascor's costs, Christensen said reducing that significantly would make potential locations for the energy-intensive spherical plant "more palatable."
Renascor also announced March 4 that it had appointed Australian group BurnVoir Corporate Finance to arrange financing. BurnVoir will also work with Royal IHC, with whom Renascor already has a collaboration to tap the European engineering, procurement and construction contractor's finance networks.
With Royal IHC working on the definitive feasibility study that is due for completion in the second quarter of 2019, Renascor hopes to be in production by mid-2020.