Sunrise Energy Metals (ASX:SRL) has appointed GR Engineering Services to initiate an updated Feasibility Study for the Syerston Scandium Project at Fifield, New South Wales.
The study will update the capital and operating cost estimates for the 2016 Syerston Scandium Project Feasibility Study, which assessed the potential for a processing plant with designed throughput capacity of 64,000 tonnes per year of ore feed from near-surface scandium resources over a 20-year mine life.
Sunrise Energy, which has a market capitalisation of $44.43 million, says the processing plant consisted of a small high-pressure acid leach circuit, a resin-in-pulp plant, and a hydrometallurgical refinery to purify the product.
The construction timeframe was estimated to be 18 months.
CEO Sam Riggall says the potential for a standalone scandium mine adjacent to the Sunrise Battery Material Complex provides a potential pathway to near-term operations and cashflow for Sunrise Energy.
“With a considerable body of study work completed, we have a strong foundation to update the previous Syerston Project Feasibility Study, assess opportunities for funding support, and rapidly move the project towards production,” he says.
“While the scandium market is still relatively small, we believe scandium will play an important role in semiconductor advances over the next decade, as the world transitions towards 5G and 6G communications infrastructure.
“In addition, the role that scandium-containing thin films may play in emerging flash memory chip applications, given its strong ferroelectric response and high remnant polarisation, is also highly encouraging. The real uplift in volume, however, will come from the development of a new generation of high-performance aluminium alloys for the aerospace and automotive sectors.”
As a result of the development program, Sunrise Energy has engaged with partners in the US to conduct commercial pilot scale extrusion trials. These trials will test the proprietary 6xxx-series alloys in a range of automotive components.
The company says this will be critical to establishing a long-term, viable market for scandium, as the volume requirements for alloys will far exceed all other markets.
Sunrise Energy adds that it has received expressions of interest from several parties for scandium offtake. While the Feasibility Study is underway, discussions with these parties will continue, with the aim to convert expressions of interest into firm offtake commitments.
Sunrise notes that while it remains focused on the financing and development of its Sunrise Nickel-Cobalt Project, developments in the scandium market have necessitated a reassessment of a stand-alone fully integrated scandium mining, processing, and refining facility in Australia.
The company adds these market developments include the increasing adoption of scandium in specialty semiconductor applications, alongside an increased focus on scandium-containing alloys in the military and defence sector.
Further, an approved environmental impact statement supports the development consent for Syerston. Various modifications include approval to produce scandium oxide and a right to operate an initial smaller-scale scandium operation, while also preserving the approval for a larger nickel or cobalt operation, which may be considered in the future.
Sunrise Energy completed construction of three approved water bores in June last year, to the south of the project site. Monitoring wells were installed at three locations and pump testing was completed under the terms of its water supply works approval.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Sunrise Energy Metals
