Alliance Nickel (ASX:AXN) has commenced vat leach testwork at an overseas facility as part of a capital cost reduction program for the NiWest Nickel-Cobalt Project.
A bulk sample of approximately two tonnes of representative NiWest ore has arrived at the testing facility.
The company is evaluating vat leaching as a lower-cost atmospheric leach alternative to the heap leach flowsheet included in its 2024 Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).
Alliance Nickel says a substantial portion of the DFS capital cost, approximately $310 million, relates to water infrastructure required for the heap-leach configuration.
Preliminary analysis indicates a vat leach flowsheet could enable sufficient local water sourcing from the Mt Kilkenny tenement, delivering material reductions in water infrastructure capital expenditure.
The vat leaching process may also provide potential metallurgical benefits, including improved solution distribution, enhanced leaching kinetics, and shorter leach cycle times.
The testwork program is expected to be completed late in Q3 2026. If positive, the results will be used to update and refine the previous Feasibility Study work.
Alliance Nickel owns 100% of the NiWest Nickel-Cobalt Project in Western Australia, one of the highest-grade undeveloped nickel laterite resources in Australia, adjacent to Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN) Murrin Murrin Operations.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Alliance Nickel
