A Fantastic NRLooks like this Dr. Bryn Harris is takingus to the promised land! I think all shareholders should be thankful that he is on board! Think I may just by some more here........
Starfield Resources Provides Update on Hydrometallurgical Process
<< NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE U.S. Successful Results Announced from Continuous Hydrolysis Circuit >> TORONTO, Oct. 30 /CNW/ - Starfield Resources Inc. (TSX: SRU / OTCBB:SRFDF) today released successful results from the refinement of the hydrolysiscircuit in its hydrometallurgical process intended to treat massive sulphideore from the Company's Ferguson Lake property in Nunavut. "We are having a banner year with our Ferguson Lake project and Icouldn't be more pleased with our progress," said André J. Douchane, Presidentand CEO. "Dr. Harris and his team have created the basis for a new era inmetal recovery wherein efficiency is key and the environment is betterprotected than ever before." Update on Iron Hydrolysis Testing Testing of the continuous circuit for iron hydrolysis, precipitation andhydrochloric acid recovery has been ongoing in Montreal for the past twomonths. Initial results are encouraging, and further testing is planned tocontinue for the remainder of 2008. << Preliminary results show: - The procedure can be effectively and efficiently translated from the initial batch mode of testing to continuous operation (a key achievement in any hydrometallurgical process). - Hydrochloric acid, ranging from 30% to 35% in strength, has been continuously, and more importantly, steadily and consistently produced over extended periods of several hours. - The process generates a highly crystalline black hematite, with a coarse texture that filters very well, and an iron content of 68% to 71%, with no detectable base metals or chloride content. >> "After over two years of extensive laboratory development work, Starfieldhas achieved a real breakthrough in hydrometallurgical research," said MichaelMoran, Starfield's Director of Engineering. "With this process we can now takea difficult massive sulphide ore and produce pure nickel, copper and cobaltproducts in a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and energy-efficientmanner." The hydromet processing plant is designed to extract pure, LME-gradenickel, copper and cobalt metals from massive sulphides at competitiveproduction costs. The process will allow for economical operations atStarfield's proposed mine and hydrometallurgical plant sites, and produceby-product electricity to power both the plant and the mine, with some excesselectricity remaining for potential sale to local communities. Dr. Bryn Harris, B.Sc., Ph.D., FCIM, FIMMM, C.Eng, is the QualifiedPerson for the hydrometallurgical process and has reviewed this news releasein accordance with NI 43-101. In March of this year, Starfield released a summary of the preliminaryeconomic study (scoping study) which, using a base case model, estimated apre-tax IRR of 13.4% with approximately CDN$266 million of pre-tax cash flowper year. In the same release, the Company also estimated a pre-tax IRR of 27%with about CDN$536 million of pre-tax cash flow per year by using then currentprices for nickel and copper. Since March, nickel and copper prices havedeclined to levels below those used in the March 20, 2008 press release;however, other products considered in the cash flow analysis either remainedthe same or increased in value. Revisiting the scoping study model used in theMarch 20, 2008 release, with current commodity prices and exchange rates,shows a pre-tax IRR at 34.3% with approximately CDN$697 million of pre-taxcash flow per year. A comparison of the effects of commodity price changes to the base casemodel is outlined in the table below. << ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scoping Study Base Commodity Case Model March 2008 October 2008 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Metals - US$ per pound ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nickel 8.00 14.25 4.50 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copper 2.00 3.75 1.80 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cobalt 25.00 25.00 30.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sulphuric Acid - US$ per ton 80.00 80.00 320.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exchange Rate - USD/CAD 1.11 1.11 1.29 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pre-tax IRR 13.4% 27.0% 34.3% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pre-tax Cash Flow - CDN$ $266 million $536 million $697 million ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 1 - Commodity prices and exchange rates used in various pre-tax IRR calculations >> The pre-tax NPV at a 10% discount rate would increase fromCDN$1.94 billion using the March numbers to CDN$2.99 billion using currentprices. The pre-tax NPV at a 15% discount rate, using current prices, isCDN$1.7 billion. "These numbers clearly demonstrate the value of the hydrometallurgicalprocess we intend to use at Ferguson Lake," added Mr. Douchane. "This process,with its economically diverse commodities, clearly helps to stabilize theproject's positive economics. While the copper and nickel prices areconsiderably lower than even those contemplated in the base case, the projecteconomics remain positive because of the rise in the price of sulphuric acid,and the decline of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar." About Starfield Starfield Resources Inc. is an advanced exploration and development stagecompany focused on its Ferguson Lake nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum-palladiumproperty in Nunavut, Canada. The property is emerging as Nunavut's largestongoing base and precious metal project. Starfield has funded the developmentof a novel, environmentally friendly and energy-efficient hydrometallurgicalflow sheet to recover metals from its Ferguson Lake massive sulphides. The Company will be filing an amendment to its scoping study to reflectthe project's sensitivity to more volatile commodity prices.