Tivan (ASX:TVN) completed a Prefeasibility Study (PFS) for the Speewah Fluorite Project in Western Australia, which is expected to generate $1.952 billion over a 10.6-year mine life.
The PFS highlights Speewah has a net present value of $354.7 million, post-tax, along with an internal rate of return of 33.2%.
Tivan, which has a market capitalisation of $96.48 million, says the PFS targets first commercial production in the first quarter of 2027, with an average production of 140,000 tonnes per year of acid grade fluorspar, generating $184 million per year.
Further, Speewah has low capital expenditure requirements. The PFS presents a conventional flowsheet, based on physical separation processes, with low technical risk. By using a joint venture structure, Tivan aims to minimise the equity funding gap.
Ongoing testwork will support achieving the standard industry specification of 97% calcium fluoride minimum.
Executive Chairman Grant Wilson says the project has a strategic opportunity to supply the global semiconductor industry, in which Australia is a bystander.
“In Asia, the project has a credible opportunity to strengthen the resilience of key supply chains, including for electric vehicles, by producing a feedstock where structural scarcity is increasingly evident in China,” Wilson says.
Tivan adds that it is evaluating metallurgical grade fluorspar as a byproduct opportunity, noting that metspar is currently commanding high prices in Asia. The use of mineralised tailings and lower grade ore may also present long-term opportunities to extend the mine life, depending upon the price of acid grade fluorspar in the future.
The company adds a testwork program will be carried out this year, using the remaining composite sample to perform flotation optimisation testwork. This will be undertaken in conjunction with drill campaign planning and execution to provide feedback for the testwork program on the drill core.
The Speewah Project lies in the Kimberley region of northeast Western Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Tivan
