Capital Intensity of Baptiste Vs Tsingshan HPALThis is where the rubber meets the road. From the 2013 PEA, we are provided a Capital Intensity ("$CI") for Baptiste nickel of $36,000 per Tonne of Annual Capacity ("ToAC"). This needs to be adjusted for anticipated improvements in grade and recovery. The adjustment formula is:
New $CI = Old $CI X Old Grade/New Grade X Old Recovery/New Recovery
New $CI = $36,000 X .115/.150 X .82/.90 (.90 is my guess for flotation)
New $CI = $25,000 per ToAC
Working from my previous post, where I conclude that Tsingshan is planning to leach only RKEF NPI matte output, rather than use a flowsheet that uses HPAL on the entire volume of mined laterite (yes, I am aware that smelting limonite is not preferred and requires a different type of smelter), and using an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000 per ToAC of for the RKEF NPI process only, we can estimate the total $CI for the new Tsingshan battery metal initiative by adding in the $14,000 incremental ToAC for the new Tsingshan plant.
($15,000 to $20,000) + $14,000 = $29,000 to $34,000 all in for Tsingshan battery metal.
$25K + $leach plant costs fro Baptiste Vs $29K to $34K for Tsingshan
Yes, I am suggesting that leached concentrate from Baptiste might compete well with Tsingshan in the battery metal market.