Castile Resources (ASX:CST) has been selected to appear in the Australian Federal Government’s 2022 Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus reportedly as a result of the Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) outcomes on its 100% owned Rover 1 Project being released.
Castile reports the results of the Rover 1 PFS displayed the potential of the project to produce downstream precious and critical minerals. While the project will produce gold doré, 99% copper, 99% cobalt and 96.5% magnetite – it is the cobalt and copper that is of interest to the critical minerals sector.
The Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus is the Commonwealth Government’s flagship critical minerals publication.
The Prospectus is used widely across international markets by potential investors, off-takers and foreign governments as the go-to source for Australian-based projects that have satisfied major development milestones.
Castile notes that the Prospectus seeks to feature active and investment-ready projects, which have at least completed a PFS and plan to produce critical minerals.
the Prospectus seeks to feature active and investment-ready projects, which have at least completed a PFS and plan to produce critical minerals
The Australian Government has been vocal in its support of projects that intend to mine and produce downstream critical minerals for the world’s 2050 climate goals. In a recent speech to the Australian Critical Minerals Summit in Sydney the Australian Federal Treasurer the Jim Chalmers expressed the need for Australia to make the most of the opportunity it has with its natural critical mineral resources.
The Treasurer also outlined several initiatives to encourage the downstream processing of these critical minerals in his address to the Summit.
The Rover 1 PFS models an underground mine build with a modern 500,000tpa processing plant focused on the production of gold, copper, cobalt and magnetite downstream products delivering strong economic outcomes with an initial project life of 8 years.
Financial modelling outcomes of the Rover 1 Project PFS estimate a pre-tax NPV of $451.7 million with an IRR of 46%; total revenues of $1.94 billion; pre-tax cash flow of $1.02 billion; and an undiscounted pre-tax net cash flow of $686 million.
The capital cost estimate is $279.5 million while a simple payback (post tax) after 2 years and 7 months of production is also projected.
Total production over the life of the Rover 1 Project is anticipated to be 252,300oz of gold, 58,600t of 99% copper plate, 2,560t of 99% cobalt metal and 652,300t of 96.4% magnetite (Fe3O4).
